Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive 
in 2011 witii funding from 
Tine Library of Congress 



http://www.arcliive.org/details/fouryearsinwliite01macm 



FOUR YEARS IN THE 
WHITE NORTH 



m 



FOUR YEARS 

IN THE 

WHITE NORTH 



BY 

DONALD B, MACMILLAN 

D.Sc, F.R.G.S. 



ILLUSTRATED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS 
BY THE AUTHOR 




HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 

NEW YORK AND LONDON 






Four Years in the White North 



Copyright, 1918, by Harper & Brothers 

Printed in the United States of America 

Published October, 1918 



NOV 29 1318 
©CLA508308 

'tap 



TO THE MEMORY OF 
ONE OF THE WHITEST. ONE OF THE BEST; 
TO HIM WHO WOULD HAVE GONE- 
GEORGE BORUP 



CONTENTS 

CHAP. PAGE 

Introduction xiii 

I. Northward Ho! 1 

II. Etah 23 

III. Our First Winter , 37 

IV. In Search of Crocker Land 46 

V. The Return from the Polar Sea 84 

VI. Work at Borup Lodge 102 

VII. To Upernavik and Back 120 

VIII. To Rensselaer Harbor 143 

IX. Waiting for the Ship 164 

X. The Winter of 1915-16 195 

XI. To King Christian Island 223 

XII. Back Across Ellesmere Land 246 

XIII. Alone at Borup Lodge 261 

XIV. Cape Sabine to Clarence Head 281 

XV. The Arrival of the "Neptltne" 306 

XVI. Conclusion 320 

Appendix I 323 

Appendix II 333 

Appendex III 371 

Appendix IV 388 

Appendix V 397 

Appendix VI 405 

Appendix VII 412 

Index 415 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



EjNG op the North Frontispiece 



S. S. "Diana" Loading at Brooklyn Navt-tard . . . . 
The "Erik" Landing Sxjpplies at Provision Point, Etah. 

Iceberg in Melville Bat 

Wherever Mother Goes, Babt Goes, Snuggled in the Hood 

Against the Warm Back 

A Good Wife is a Good Chewer. Boot Soles are a Good 

Test of Teeth 

Brother John's Glacier and Alida Lake 

Christmas Dinner, 1914. Left to Right: Hunt, Green, 

Ekblaw, Tanquart, Allen, Mene (Eskimo), Small . 

Shoo-e-ging-wa and Her Pet 

The Bright, Snappy Face of an Eskimo Child .... 

Snow is an Excellent Non-conductor 

No Plates or Forks in the North. The Meat is Measured 

IN THE Mouth and Cut at the Lips . . . . ^ . . 
Narwhal. The Raw Skin is Prized as a Deucactj . . . 

Up the Face of the Beitstadt Glacier 

When is He Coming t ith the Grub? 

Herd of Musk-oxen 

Four of Our Faithful Natives Who Deserve the Credit 

FOR Our Ten Thousand Miles of Sledge- work . . . 

Constructing a Snow House 

Our Camp at Cape Isabella, May, 1917 

Held Up by Pressure Only 

Stretch of Rough Ice on Polar Sea 

Last Camp on Polar Sea 

Fourth Camp on Polar Sea 



Facing p. 12 - 
16 
18- 

20 

20 
24 

32 
36 
40 
44 

48 
48 
52 
54 
62 

64 
68 
68 
76 

78 
78 

84 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Peary Record Found with Flag on Summit of Cape Thomas 

Hubbard Facing p- 86 

Peart Cairn on SxnaMiT of Cape Thomas Hubbard ... *' 86. 
Portion of American Flag Left by Peary at Cape Thomas 

Hubbard and Found by Author in May, 1914 ... " 86 

Eskimo Drawings of Different Animals " 92 

Burgomaster or Glaucous Gull (Larus Hyperboreus) . " 104 

Netting Dovekies at the Rate of One a Minute ... " 108 

The Niagara of North Greenland " 112 

A Lonely Grave in the Far North " 120 

Port Foulke. Winter Quarters of Hayes Expedition . " 120 

Eight Exposures at Twenty-minute Intervals of Mid- " 

night Sun in Smith Sound " 144 

A Fine Day, Good Going, and a Good Team " 148 

Kane Record Found on North Greenland Shore ... " 158 
Arrow Carved on the Summit of Fern Rock at Rensselaer 
Harbor by Kane Expedition to Indicate Location of 

Glass Jar Concealed in a Crevice " 158 

Not a Dog Dared to Go Near " 160 

With the Feel of the Warm Sun on His Body He Gurgles 

WITH Delight " 166 

The End of the Day " 166 

Flight of Dovekies ** 168 

Head of Two-thousand-pound Walrus *' 198 

Eskimo Kayak. Wonderfully Adapted for the Purpose 

OF Harpooning Walrus, Narwhal, and Seal .... " 230 
When the Ah-wa-ta, the Inflated Skin of a Little Ringed 
Seal, Moves Through the Water it is an Indication 
that the Harpoon Has Been Driven Home. It is At- 
tached TO THE Harpoon Line and Supports and also 

Denotes the Location of the Animal " 230 

Al-ning-wa, the Wife of Arklio " 242 

Nest of Eider Duck. Four Thousand Delicious Fresh 

Eggs of the Eider Duck " 252 

The Rare Eggs of the Knot (Tringa Canutus) .... " 264 

The Knot Upon Nest ' 264 

An Ice-cold Bath Has No Terrors Whatever for Nannook " 270 

He Very Kindly Ascended the Berg to be Photographed . " 270 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



OiTR Fourth and Last Christmas. Only Two of Original 
Personnel Remaining. Left to Right: Comer, Hovey, 

Small, MacMillan Facing p. 278 

We Can Never Forget the Cloud Effects of the Midnight 

Sun Over Cape Sabine " 282 

Sunset Over Cape Sabine " 286' 

Glacier a Few Miles North of Cape York " 286 

The Remains of the Greely Starvation Hut at Camp 

Sabine " 294 

Peary's Old Hut at Cape Sabine " 294 

Sledging on the Ice-foot in the Late Spring .... " 300 
There are Many Dangerous Corners on a Narrow Ice- 
foot which Demand Most Careful Work to Prevent 

a Drop into the Sea " 300 

Relief-ship "Neptune" in Baffin Bay " 304 

Relief-ship "Neptune" at Anchor in Etah Habbob . . " 304 

It was Hard to Bid Them Good-by " 308 

A Real Dog " 308 

E-TooK-A-SHOo Listening at the Breathing-hole of a Seal '* 312 

Tracks of the Polar Bear .... " 312 

The Old Whaler's Lookout at Disco " 318 

The End of the Famous "Fox" " 318 

Arctic Poppy (Pap aver Radicatum) and Arnica (Arnica " 

Alpina) " 400 



MAPS 

Etah and Vicinity . Page 25 

CmcuMPOLAR Relief Map to Show Sledge Track and 

Field of Work of Crocker Land Expedition. 

(Courtesy of Popular Science Monthly) Facing p. 28 

Field of Work of Crocker Land Expedition " 30 



INTRODUCTION 

rfflHE Pole had been discovered. My dreams and 
*- hopes of years had culminated in one short year's 
work under Peary. When the S. S. Roosevelt, homeward 
bound, stuck her short stub nose into the ice-fields of 
Robeson Channel and lay there panting, unable to pro- 
ceed, I secretly hoped that Torngak, the evil spirit 
of the North, would keep her there. Only one short 
year of Arctic work! But that, under the tutelage of 
a great master, had left me anxious to continue. What 
a grip the great white ice-fields get on a man! And 
what a fascination may exist in the most desolate places ! 

When, a few weeks later. North Greenland lay but 
as a ribbon on the sky-line, I had made up my mind — 
I was going back. But where.^ Far off in the north- 
west, beyond the heights of Axel Heiberg and Grant 
Lands, lay the largest unexplored white spot on the sur- 
face of the globe, one-half a million square miles in 
area. And at the very edge of this, with its white head 
beckoning to man, stood Crocker Land, reported and 
named by Peary in 1906 after one of his supporters, 
with the words: *'I seem to see more distinctly the 
snow-clad summits of a distant land in the northwest 
above the ice horizon.*' Here was a goal worthy of 
ambition ! 

My decision to return into the frozen North was not 



INTRODUCTION 

actuated by this single report. Richardson, McClure, 
Marcus Baker, Capt. John Keenan, and Dr. R. A. Harris 
have all given reasons for the existence of such a land. 
This belief has persisted for nearly ninety years. The 
accumulated evidence of years substantiated Peary's 
belief. 

My friends realized that this was the last great geo- 
graphical problem of the North, and they generously 
offered to contribute the necessary funds for the carry- 
ing out of my plans in 1911. In the spring of that 
year I received a letter from George Borup, assistant 
curator of geology in the American Museum of Natural 
History, stating that if I would consent to postpone 
my departure for one year, we, as joint leaders, would 
receive the help and patronage of that institution. 

Here were two inducements — one the honor of work- 
ing under the auspices of the American Museum, and 
the other the help and companionship of George Borup, 
my roommate on the S. S. Roosevelt. 

I consider myself fortunate in having known and 
worked with Borup. Such men are not common. 
When an assistant to Peary in 1908, he was only twenty- 
three years old, yet he was one of the strongest and grit- 
tiest in the party. As an illustration of the latter 
quality, I may cite an incident in the day's work in the 
early spring of 1909. 

On that memorable date Borup was sent back to land 
for oil. Tides, currents, and winds so acted upon the 
ice as to cut off all communication with the advance 
party. His Eskimos, fearing for their lives, did not 
dare to proceed northward with the much-needed fuel. 
During this interval George wrote me a note which I 
found weeks later in the crack of an old snow igioo 



INTRODUCTION 

under the cliffs of Cape Columbia. A part of it read 
as follows: 

"Everything has gone to hell. My Eskimos are talking of quitting 
and of hiking for the ship. // they do, I shall go it alone just as soon 
as I can get across the lead." 

With a heavy sledge and alone, he was going out over 
the drift ice in search of his commander ! 

Borup prepared at Groton School, and graduated 
from Yale in 1907; then he became an apprentice in 
the Pennsylvania Railroad machine-shops at Altoona, 
Pennsylvania. Attendance at a lecture by Peary in 
1906 fired his ambition to see the Arctic regions. 

In the spring of 1912 I proceeded to New York to 
assume charge of the outfitting of the expedition, Borup 
at this time being engaged in post-graduate work at 
Yale University. Our voluntary subscription of ten 
thousand dollars, through our friends, to the American 
Museum, was more than doubled, contributions being 
received from one hundred and thirty-seven individuals 
and twelve colleges, schools, and societies. 

All was preceeding well when, in April, the sad news 
of Borup's death was received. At a meeting of the 
executive committee of the Board of Trustees of the 
Museum, held in May, 1912, it was resolved to post- 
pone the expedition for one year, and that it be made 
a memorial of George Borup. 

With the reorganization which followed, our expedition 
of three men, with one object in view, expanded rapidly 
into a personnel of seven men and several objects to 
be attained: 

1. To reach, map the coast-line, and explore Crocker 
Land, the mountainous tops of which were seen 



INTRODUCTION 

across the Polar Sea by Rear-Admiral Peary in 
1906. 

2. To search for other lands in the unexplored region 

west and southwest of Axel Heiberg Land, and 
north of Parry Islands. 

3. To penetrate into the interior of Greenland at its 

widest part, between the 77th and 78th parallels 
of north latitude, studying meteorological and- 
glaciological conditions on the summit of the great 
ice-cap. 

4. To study the geology, geography, glaciology, meteor- 

ology, terrestrial magnetism, electrical phenomena, 
seismology, zoology (both vertebrate and inverte- 
brate), botany, oceanography, ethnology, and arche- 
ology throughout the extensive region which is to 
be traversed, all of it lying above the 77th parallel. 
The great unexplored sector of the Polar Sea may be 
reached by a selection of one of the following routes: 
(1) Bering Strait; (2) Lancaster Sound; (3) Jones 
Sound; (4) Smith Sound and Flagler Bay. 

The first offered many inducements, the chief of which 
was the proximity of the edge of the unknown sector 
to the western shores of Prince Patrick Island; an 
economy of many weary miles of sledge-work on the 
Polar Sea. Ice conditions, however, along the northern 
shores of Alaska and in the Beaufort Sea all militate 
against the safe arrival of a ship at headquarters, and 
most certainly against her return in the same season, 
as was planned. 

Lancaster and Jones Sounds may be perfectly practi- 
cable one year and utterly impossible the next; there- 
fore both were eliminated in favor of the Smith Sound 
route. 



INTRODUCTION 

With a good stanch ship, Etah, North Greenland, and 
Cape Sabine on the opposite shore are attainable every 
year. Leading west into the shores of Ellesmere Land 
are Buchanan and Flagler Bays. Here I planned to 
build our winter quarters, a distance of 375 statute 
miles from our objective point. The ship, having 
landed the personnel, supplies, and equipment, was to 
return south with the intention of coming back at the 
end of two years, or three years at the latest. 

During the waning light of the fall months, advance 
depots of supplies were to be advanced over the heights 
of Ellesmere Land into Bay Fiord and Eureka Sound, 
our last being established at Cape Thomas Hubbard, 
the most northern end of Axel Heiberg Land. Upon 
the return of the sun in February, our advance toward 
Crocker Land was to begin with the help of some fifteen 
Eskimos and their 150 dogs, the teams traveling light 
from food-station to food-station, thereby reserving 
their strength for the arduous work of the Polar Sea. 

If Crocker Land did exist, then the work of explora- 
tion and survey would be continued in the spring of 
1915 and possibly 1916, depending upon the size and 
character of the newly discovered land. Because of 
approaching warm weather and the consequent disin- 
tegration of the sea ice, a return to headquarters in 
Flagler Bay by June 1st would be imperative. Here, 
for the remainder of the year, work was to be carried 
on in meteorology, botany, ethnology, geology, zoology, 
seismology, ornithology, and terrestrial magnetism. 

If no word was received from us at the end of two 
years, a relief -ship was to be sent in search of the party. 
With the help of fresh meat, which I knew to be abun- 
dant in the vicinity of our winter quarters, our pro- 



INTRODUCTION 

visions were adequate for a sojourn of at least three 
years. 

The American Geographical Society and the Uni- 
versity of IlHnois came to the help of the American 
Museum in financing this undertaking, and the expedi- 
tion sailed under the auspices of these three institutions. 

D. B. M. 

Boston, Massachusetts, May, 1918. 



FOUR YEARS IN THE 
WHITE NORTH 



''He heard of a new land far to the north, and rest was 
not his until he saw it.'' — Panikpa, narrating the deeds 
of his grandfather. 



FOUR YEARS IN THE 
WHITE NORTH 



NORTHWARD HO! 

npHE hot 2d of July, 1913, is one of the mfle-stones 
-■■ which will always loom large in the perspective of 
our past. We were standing on the line, faces toward 
the north, awaiting the shot that should start us out 
on two long years of Arctic work, two years of uncer- 
tainty, of desired objects to be attained, of blasted hopes, 
of adventure, of wonderful and strange sights, of extreme 
happiness for some, of abject misery for others. 

Huddled, as if for protection, among the giant steel-gray 
ships of our navy at the Brooklyn Navy-yard lay the 
old Diana, of St. John's, Newfoundland. Her high bow, 
her peculiar rig, her lines, her bridge, the crow's-nest 
at the topmast-head, her greenheart sheathing, all told 
of her battles in the far North and of her object here — 
the transportation of the Crocker Land Expedition to 
the head of Flagler Bay, Ellesmere Land, 660 miles 
from the North Pole. 

With the thud of the last box on the deck, the splash 
of ropes in the water, and the sound of the gong in the 



2 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Jult 

engine-room, the weary, anxious months of preparation 
now shaped themselves into the foundation of the 
structure which we were to build. Our long voyage to 
the top of the earth had begun. 

Important and decisive battles in the North have been 
won weeks and even years before they were fought. A 
man returns from the Polar Sea and says, " I have failed." 
The average mind visualizes open water, rough ice, 
pressure ridges, unsurmountable barriers, but the leader 
knows that he failed before he ever left home, because of 
carelessness and poor judgment in the selection of his 
food, his men, his equipment; a failure to discriminate 
between the important and the unimportant objects to 
be attained; a total ignorance of the varying phases 
of the work; and a lack of that most important and 
very valuable characteristic of an Arctic man — re- 
sourcefulness in grappling with the ever-arising unknown 
factors of the problem. 

Too much care cannot be exercised in the selection of 
food, equipment, and men; the selection must be based 
upon one's own experience and upon the experience of 
all those who have preceded him in the field. The real 
work of an expedition is borne by the leader for months 
prior to its departure, and then comes a relaxation, a 
school-boy's Saturday feeling — a long, long holiday. 
When going far beyond the confines of civilization, 
nothing must be forgotten which would tend to ex- 
pedite and facilitate the work planned; not a single 
item of the many thousands which help to spell success, 
from pins, and bands for birds to sheet lead for broken 
boats and crutches for broken limbs! One expedition 
sailed away some years ago without brooms. For two 
years the house was swept with birds' wings! 



1913] NORTHWARD HO! 3 

Into the hold of the Diana had gone but a fraction 
of the equipment, yet it included: 10,000 pounds of 
biscuit; 5,000 of flour; 1,500 of beans; 1,400 of de- 
hydrated vegetables; 1,000 each of rolled oats, corned 
beef, salt pork, and tobacco; 600 of evaporated apples; 
500 each of yellow meal and prunes; 350 of coffee; 300 
each of tea and codfish; 10,000 gallons of kerosene oil, 
and 1,000 each of gasolene and alcohol; 2,400 tins of 
condensed milk; 1,500 of hash, 1,000 of baked beans, 
800 of sweet corn; 700 of tomatoes; and 500 of salmon. 

As the Diana passed under the stern of a U. S. N. 
receiving-ship, Hancock^ the band assembled on the 
quarter-deck and struck up, "Hail, the Conquering 
Hero Comes," followed by "Auld Lang Syne," *'In 
the Good Old Summer-time," and "The Girl I Left 
Behind Me." Commander Ryan was evidently well 
aware of the fact that one of my men had been married 
only one week, two others were engaged, and one wanted 
to be. The strains of "In the Good Old Summer-time" 
failed utterly to call forth the least feeling of regret 
that we were leaving the dust, dirt, and prostrating 
heat of city life for the pure, clear air and clean snows 
of the far North. 

Our state-rooms looked like the interior of a huge grab- 
bag — boxes, bundles, books, and packages of all shapes 
and sizes, out of which oozed stuffed dates and chocolate 
frosted cake. My bed was filled with salted peanuts, 
my pillow was covered with — I never knew what it was ! 

" Crocker Land," under a thick layer of white frosting, 
rested upon the table in the main saloon. Proudly 
scaling its heights with banners flying was an "intrepid 
band of Arctic explorers," the conception of Artist 
Operti, an Arctic enthusiast. And amid the chaos 



4 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [July 

of it all came a cheery peep from the sunlit skylight — a 
golden canary leaving his pleasant New York home for 
bleak and barren Labrador, a gift to the wife of a mis- 
sionary at Hopedale. 

The personnel is the heart of an expedition, which 
means its health and energy and life. One bit of dis- 
loyalty, one leaky valve, may impair the whole system. 
Conditions under which one lives in the far North are 
very abnormal — far away from the touch of the human- 
izing elements of civilization; from the political and 
international laws which govern man in his relations 
with his fellow-men; from the comforts of home; from 
the loving kindness of relatives and friends; from the 
companionship which man craves; from the hum and 
activity of a busy world ; from the news and progress of 
the day. Away from the ever-recurring sunlight days 
of the homeland, he goes north to plunge into the 
shadows and darkness of the long, cold winter; and then 
the dark nights which man should have for sleep give 
way before the continual brightness of a revolving sun. 

The men had been carefully selected. All were young, 
energetic, and enthusiastic. The roster read: 

W. Elmer Ekblaw, A.B., A.M., University of Illinois. 
Geologist and botanist. Born March 10, 1882, Ran- 
toul, Illinois. Instructor, University of Illinois, 1910-13. 

Maurice Cole Tanquary, A.B., A.M., Ph.D.., Uni- 
versity of Illinois. Zoologist. Born November 26, 
1881, Lawrenceville, Illinois. Assistant in entomology, 
University of Illinois, 1907-12. Instructor in entomol- 
ogy, Kansas State Agricultural College, 1912-15. 

Harrison J. Hunt, A.B., 1902, M.D., 1905, Bowdoin. 
Born, Brewer, Maine, 1879. Captain 'varsity track and 
football teams. 



1913] NORTHWARD HO! 5 

Ensign FitzHugh Green, U.S.N. Physicist. Born 
St. Joseph, Missouri, 1889. Graduated from Naval 
Academy, AnnapoHs, 1909. Georgetown University, 
A.M., 1913. 

Jerome Lee Allen. Electrician and Wireless Operator. 
Born April 17, 1891, Morgan County, Georgia. De- 
tailed to the Crocker Land Expedition by the U. S. 
government. Received training at navy wireless school 
in New York City. Detailed to U.S.S. Patuxent, U.S.S. 
New Hampshire, Norfolk, Virginia, Beaufort, North 
Carolina. Special work at Bureau of Standards, Wash- 
ington, and at Naval Radio Laboratory. 

Jonathan Cook Small. Mechanic and cook. Born 
Provincetown, 1876. U. S. Life-saving Station, 1893- 
1902. Mechanic in Boston, 1902-12. Labrador sum- 
mer trip, 1912. 

Beautiful clear weather accompanied us in our journey 
through the Sound and around Cape Cod to Boston, 
where we loaded additional supplies and 14,000 pounds 
of pemmican. Friends and relatives steamed down the 
harbor with us on the afternoon of the 5th, and at day- 
light of the 6th we headed eastward toward the shores 
of Nova Scotia. 

The little town of Sydney, Cape Breton, has witnessed 
the departure and return of many an Arctic expedition. 
At this little outpost of the homeland we picked up 
packages rushed through by mail and express, letters 
from home, telegrams, 30,000 pounds of dog-biscuit 
imported from England, and 13,000 feet of matched 
spruce for our house to be constructed in the far North. 
The Diana was loaded as she had never been loaded 
before. With scuppers awash, we steamed over to North 
Sydney late in the evening of the 12th, where our deck 



6 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [July 

cargo was restored and the ship swung for compass 
deviation. 

At five in the afternoon of the 13th three long blasts 
of our steam-whistle, a salute to the quiet little town, 
announced that our long two-thousand-mile trip had 
begun. From Low Point came the signal, *'We wish 
you a pleasant voyage," to which we replied, "Thank 
you." 

There were no long, lingering looks at the land 
astern, no painful thoughts of the home-leaving; this 
was our chosen task, and we were eager to be at it. 
Ten miles out of Syndey, the Southern Cross, Borch- 
grevink's old South Pole ship, passed us, bound in, colors 
flying and Captain Clark in the rigging. To the cheery 
clear call of *' Hello, Mac!" I waved my cap. The 
Southern Cross passed out of our life; two years later 
she went down with all on board. 

When I rolled into my hammock beneath the boat 
davits at ten o'clock, I threw off, with my clothes, all 
worry and care, all ever-present thoughts of preparation, 
and all responsibility. We were but passengers on a 
chartered ship. Our fortunes for the next three weeks 
were in the hands of the captain. The hoarse bellow of 
the fog- whistle throughout the night did not rob me of a 
wink of sleep. With the Newfoundland coast close 
aboard, we steamed north on the 14th, with steadily 
fallmg barometer and increasing northerly winds. At 
dark the Diana was laboring heavily in a head sea. 
Deep, logy as a log, sticking her nose into every curling 
sea, and shipping tons and tons of water, she wallowed 
like a submarine. As I awoke in the night and listened 
to the roar of the wind and rush of wave, I dropped off 
to sleep with the comforting thought that before reaching 



1913] NORTHWARD HO! 7 

the turbulent waters of Baffin Bay she would lighten 
herself by a daily consumption of nine tons of coal. 

By morning the gale had abated. Clouds and mist 
rolled away, revealing the southern shores of Labrador 
on the distant sky-line. And there lay our first ice- 
berg ! White wanderers of the North, how intensely in- 
teresting they are ! Often one and even two hundred can 
be counted from the crosstrees. Not formed in or of salt 
water, as many believe, but of the compacted snows of 
centuries, deposited upon the summits of far northern 
lands, they have slowly crept through winding valleys 
ever onward toward the sea. During stormy winter 
months they have listened to the roar of winds and the 
rustle of drifting snow; during the spring months, to the 
sound of falling waters, to rocks leaping and bounding 
into space, to the cry of the gull, to the croak of the 
raven, and to the bark of the fox. At last, born of the 
parent glacier, they float majestically off to their death 
in southern seas, beautiful beyond description in their 
glittering whiteness, marvelous in their changing colors. 

That bright afternoon when we hugged the Labrador 
coast, steaming north in smooth waters toward the 
Straits of Belle Isle, was one to remember. The musical 
talent of the expedition burst forth in song, accompanied 
by the mandolin and guitar. In the fine voices of Allen 
and Tanquary were promised hours of entertainment 
during the long winters of the North. One by one the 
boys left the quarter-deck to snuggle down in their ham- 
mocks and wonder, now they were entering the outer 
gates of dreamland, what to-morrow had in store for 
them. The lights in the fishermen's huts of Red Bay 
winked and blinked us to sleep. 

A little after midnight came a nerve-racking vibration 



8 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [July 

from stem to stern, as if the very bottom of the Diana 
was being ripped completely out of her. She listed to 
port. There was a moment of deathlike stillness; then 
an agonized cry from the depths of the engine-room, 
"Is that the bottom .f*" A babble of voices! A stam- 
pede from f or'ard and after cabins ! And then the dark- 
ness was fairly shot to pieces with: "I'll be damned!" 
"How did she get here.f^" "Her back is busted!" 
"Back her!" "If you do, she'll sink!" "Get your 
bags!" "She's stuck, sir." "She'll never come off, sir." 

As I leaped from my hammock, Captain Waite passed 
me in negligee, headed for the bridge — which he never 
should have left, endangered as we were by a heavy 
mist, strong tides, and numerous icebergs. He clutched 
the railing and stared helplessly into space. 

I waited patiently for the word which would bring 
order out of chaos, some command which would quiet 
this half-crazy crew. It was evidently each man for 
himself and the devil take the hindmost. Our twenty- 
one-foot dory shot from the lofty skids into the sea, 
and came to the surface filled to the gunwales. 

Born on " Cape Cod, one of the graveyards of the 
North Atlantic, and thoroughly acquainted with wreck- 
ing methods, I knew instinctively that to save the ship 
two things must be done and done at once: run out a 
kedge anchor well off the starboard quarter to prevent 
the ship from going broadside on to the beach, and 
then lighten the cargo. Learning that we had grounded 
on the height of the flood tide, I realized at once the 
seriousness of our situation. Although I had absolutely 
no control over the ship and her crew, I felt that the 
expedition equipment, supplies, and coal for which we 
were paying were at least subject to my command. 



1913] NORTHWARD HO! 9 

Our deck-load of coal, about fifty tons, must go, and 
over it went to the bottom. We had entered a race 
against a rising wind and sea which would tear the bot- 
tom out of the Diana in a few hours. She must be re- 
lieved of the weight which, on the ebb tide, might mean 
a broken back. As Doctor Hunt and I started for the 
shore just at break of day with the first load of dog-bis- 
cuit, I realized how pitifully feeble were our efforts, and 
how infinitesimally small the weight we had removed 
in comparison with the tons and tons which must be 
landed on the beach. More boats and more men were 
the great needs. "Rush'* was the watchword. The 
slightest increase in swell and all was lost. 

The services of Frederick Paterson and Judge Carroll 
Sprigg, who were going north with us for the summer, 
and that of their power-boat were invaluable. They 
volunteered to work hard and long — and to the limit. 
My nephew. Dr. Neil A. Fogg, I despatched to Red 
Bay with telegrams to the American Museum, to Job 
Brothers, of St. John's, owners of the ship, and to 
Battle Harbor. I was hoping to get in touch with one 
of the government steamers which ply up and down the 
coast during the summer months with mail and pas- 
sengers. 

Three fishing-schooners appeared in the distance, 
bound north. Realizing the importance of these vessels 
as lighters, we signaled for help and soon had them 
alongside, our hatches off, and boxes going over the 
rail in a steady stream. With one of my men on each 
of the three schooners, I directed them to proceed to 
Red Bay, where the cargo was to be landed on the dock 
to await our arrival. When our power-boat reached 
Red Bay, news of the wreck spread through all the little 



10 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [July 

fishing-villages, with the result that during the day 
some twenty or thirty trap-boats came from north 
and south. But mingled with my feelings of relief and 
appreciation of this timely help were grave apprehen- 
sions for the safety of our ship and cargo. I knew all 
too well the fate of the last wreck, a beautiful iron ship 
fitted^ and provisioned for two years. Her crew were 
driven from her deck, ropes and sails cut from her spars, 
fittings torn from her cabin, and the provisions loaded 
into boats. After this raid she was sold at public auc- 
tion on the dock at Battle Harbor for the princely sum 
of five dollars! 

Fortunately, through my work in Labrador I knew 
many of these boatmen. A continuous stream of boxes 
over the rail, an increasing pile upon the shore, were 
testimonials of their confidence and friendship. Their 
pay was my word. 

On the morning of the 17th, the Stella Maris, the 
Newfoundland government steamer, was sighted round- 
ing the point. To my astonishment, I learned that 
during the night there had been such a severe gale only 
twenty miles away that she was compelled to give up 
the trip and remain at anchor at Cape Charles. In 
the mean time we had had hardly a particle of wind 
and scarcely a ripple on the water. Providence.? A 
miracle .f* Or the fickleness of nature.'^ At Cape Charles 
it was unanimously and laconically agreed, "She's 
gone !" At Battle Harbor, with the wind tearing through 
the tickle and the rain beating against the window, 
grizzled fishermen peered into the darkness, muttering, 
"Not a trace of her will be left!" A slight swell, how- 
ever, as a result of this gale, arose during the day, roll- 
ing the Diana considerably from starboard to port, and 



1913] NORTHWARD HO! 11 

with each roll the smoke-stack rose at least a foot 
through the deck, causing grave fears that she could 
not possibly stand the strain. 

The sharp list of the ship made it impossible to keep 
water in one of our boilers, and Mr. Grossman, our chief 
engineer, declared that, for the safety of the ship and 
men on board, he dared not risk keeping up the fires. 
An explosion was imminent ! Yet, upon the high water, 
steam was absolutely necessary in the attempt to back 
the ship from the rocks! He was persuaded to keep 
the fires bright and a full head of steam on, regardless 
of the consequences. 

On the flood, the Stella Maris passed us a hawser, 
dropped her anchors well off to sea, and started her 
steam-winches and propeller, we on board the Diana 
starting our steam-winches and reversing our screw. 
The Diana did not budge. We kept feverishly at the 
work, lightening the ship, knowing that she must come 
off if relieved of her weight. The crew offered no en- 
couragement whatever. Most of them had packed 
their bags and had carried them ashore, declaring 
that no ship wrecked on Barge Point had ever left 
the rocks. 

As I feared for the safety of our food and equipment 

on the land, I placed Ekblaw, Green, Allen, and Tan- 

quary as guards. Hunt and I remained on board the 

ship, directing the work of unloading. At night on the 

high water, when we again attempted to pull the Diana 

from the rocks, we were both down in the hold of the 

ship filling the coal-buckets, and coal was going over the 

rail in a steady stream, when a shout arose from the 

men on deck that we were slipping off into deep water. 

Gaptain Waite at last seemed to come out of his reverie, 
2 



12 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [July 

and anchored the ship about three hundred yards from 
the shore, just at dusk. 

Appreciating the danger of our proximity to land and 
the probabihty of an increase of wind and sea at any 
minute, we turned instantly to the work of reloading 
our cargo, seriously handicapped as we were by a heavy 
mist and the blackness of the night. We were about 
to congratulate ourselves on the probable success of our 
arduous work, with no sleep and very little food, when 
a man arrived from the shore to report that the fisher- 
men, upon whom I depended for the reloading of the 
ship, demanded one dollar and fifty cents an hour for 
their services! I visited the shore at once, impatient 
to examine this new species of Labrador fisherman who 
valued his services so highly. There stood the men 
with hands in their pockets, looking a bit sullen. A few 
words resulted in their acceptance of fifty cents. 

That night's work seems like a nightmare. The rat- 
tle of the steam-winch, the cries of the men, the flicker- 
ing lights, the boats appearing and disappearing in the 
darkness, the aching body, the sore hands, the drunken 
crew! Thank God! at daylight every box and every 
single item of our equipment were again restored in our 
hold and about our decks, one farmer-fisherman ejacu- 
lating: "WTiat do ye think! I didn't even get a board 
for me barn door!" I ordered the ship to proceed to 
Red Bay for the boxes which the three fishing-schooners 
landed there, and I jumped over the rail of the deeply 
loaded mail-boat, walked dizzily to a state-room, and fell 
asleep trying to remove my boots. Forty-two hours 
without sleep, combined with hard physical labor and 
continuous mental strain, inexorably demanded rest. 

On the 19th the Diana came steaming proudly up the 



1913] NORTHWAED HO! 13 

coast with colors flying. A thorough examination was 
made of the hull in Battle Harbor, with the result that 
the captain, mate, engineer, and every man of the crew 
declared that she was absolutely unseaworthy. I 
crawled down into the forehold far beneath the boxes, 
where I could hear a steady stream of water trickling 
down over the sheathing and running aft into the hold 
of the ship. A wireless at once urged the Museum to 
charter the Erik, of St. John's. Then followed a trian- 
gular, endless stream of instructions, advice, and mis- 
understanding between the American Museum, Job 
Brothers, and myself. Job Brothers, owners of the ship, 
demanded that I should return to St. John's with the 
Diana before delivering the Erik in charter to the Ameri- 
can Museum; and so I was reluctantly forced to give up 
my plan of transferring cargo in Battle Harbor and 
gave orders to steam k) St. John's, where we arrived on 
July 27th. We had the same sort of busy days here as 
on the rocks at Barge Point. Not a moment could be 
lost; work must be carried on day and night. It was 
now late in the year, and only for a few days during the 
year are the doors of the Arctic open, and if one does 
not get inside when they are open, it means wait for' 
another year. Back we steamed to Battle Harbor on 
August 3d and quickly loaded the supplies left there 
by the Stella Maris, and on the 5th we were again 
headed toward the North. 

It was a part of my original plan to call at the Mo- 
ravian mission stations on the Labrador for sealskin 
boots and Eskimo dog-drivers, both valuable adjuncts 
to an Arctic expedition, the former being superior in 
every way to anything obtainable in North Greenland, 
and the latter possessing that very valuable and much- 



14 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 

appreciated qualification — an understanding of our 
own language. Lack of time, however, precluded all 
thought of any deviation from a direct course to Cape 
York. 

A gale in Baffin Bay on the 6th, 7th, and 8th knocked 
every one of the expedition clean down and out, except- 
ing Jot Small, mechanic and cook, who has never known 
what it is to be seasick. 

The forecastle deck sprang a leak and the crew for*- 
ard were nearly washed out of their berths. With every 
heavy head sea the bones of the fifty-year-old Erik 
fairly shrieked in agony. The watchful Jot observed 
our house lumber, piled high on the skids, lurching 
heavily from side to side with every roll, and had it 
more securely lashed, thereby saving us from most 
serious loss. 

On August 12th we passed over the Arctic Circle, but 
the members of the expedition were too busy bagging 
coal for our winter quarters to notice any perceptible 
bump or to watch the bows of the ship for the boarding 
of Father Neptune, who in these latitudes should have 
walrus tusks and a harpoon in lieu of the conventional 
flowing beard and trident. 

Our first field of ice on the 13th necessitated a detour 
to the eastward of about five miles; and, wonderful 
to relate, this was the only detour made during the 
long voyage of two thousand miles from Sydney to 
Cape York. 

Thick fog on the 14th caused us considerable anxiety. 
The innumerable small islands and outlying ledges off 
the Greenland shore north of Upernavik are justly to be 
dreaded, especially following a long period of thick 
weather, making sights for position impossible and com- 



19131 NORTHWARD HO! 15 

pass variation very uncertain. Out of the thick fog, 
dead ahead and apparently only a few yards distant, 
loomed a gigantic berg, its great bulk threatening in- 
stant destruction. The quick eye and the prompt 
action of Chief-engineer Grossman, who happened to 
be on the bridge, averted a catastrophe. A whirl of 
the wheel hard over and a clanging of bells in the en- 
gine-room filled up those few long seconds as the great 
black shadow crept past our port quarter and dissolved 
into white mist behind us. With the darkening of the 
gray curtain into the silhouettes of numberless bergs, 
through which we cautiously wound at a snail's pace, I 
recognized our position as the "Bergy Hole'* of the 
Dundee whalers who have bravely thrown their wooden 
ships into the crushing, grinding ice of Melville Bay for 
a century. 

Each year witnessed the return of these magnificent 
fellows in their sturdy bluff -bowed ships, saw them fold 
their wings at the edge of the ice in June, and begin 
that long struggle toward the north water, 170 miles 
distant. The thrill of the whole thing! Here was the 
battle-field of a century! A battle against the titanic 
forces of nature, where man matches his strength, his 
ingenuity, his wit, his brains, against violent winds, 
blinding, drifting snows, biting cold, and the crushing 
strength of untold millions of tons of ice. A blue ribbon 
of water leading northward through a limitless field of 
glittering whiteness, the ringing command of officers, 
the singing of the tracking men, the long line of yarded 
ships, the pursuit of polar bears, the crack of rifles, the 
cheery cry from ship to ship, the friendly rivalry as one 
ship forged ahead and took the lead! 

Ice conditions in Melville Bay during the so-called 



16 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 

navigable months — June, July, and August — are entirely 
dependent upon the strength of the prevailing winds 
during the year. Strong prevailing northerly winds pre- 
dict to a certainty an open season, especially if in com- 
bination with strong southerly winds. The latter 
break up the great northern ice-fields; the former re- 
move them. In 1857 southerly winds blew incessantly 
for six weeks, with the result that all whaling-ships 
were beset and two were crushed. In 1830 twenty-two 
ships were crushed, one, the Race Horse, being literally 
turned inside out and her keel forced up through her 
deck. One thousand men retreated to the Danish set- 
tlements and all arrived in safety except two, who died 
from the effects of liquor. 

Some years are really remarkable in that apparently 
all the northern seas have been swept bare of ice by 
strong northerly winds. In 1871 the Polaris, under 
the command of Charles Francis Hall, plowed through 
an almost iceless sea to the extremely high latitude of 
82° 11', which was farther north than any ship had 
gone under steam. In 1881 the Proteus, under the com- 
mand of Greely, proceeded through Baffin Bay, Smith 
Sound, Kane Basin, and Kennedy Channel, hardly de- 
viating from her course. In 1908 the Roosevelt steamed 
straight on toward Cape York, encountering no ice 
whatever. The year 1913 was just such a year. A 
record in crossing Melville Bay simply depended upon 
the speed of the ship. 

At 10 P.M. on the 14th the fog above our heads dis- 
appeared completely, revealing a blue sky and massive 
black mountains well off the starboard quarter. The 
surface-lying mist quickly dissolved, enabling us to 
recognize, well astern, the basalt shaft known as the 



1913] NORTHWARD HO! 17 

Devil's Thumb. As the southern boundary of Melville 
Bay it lifts its black head a thousand feet above the 
level of the sea, bearing a striking resemblance to an old 
rugged, upturned thumb. It is situated in 74° 40', 
north latitude, 165 miles from Cape York. 

Cape Seddon and Cape Walker could be seen off the 
starboard bow and, within a few hours. Cape Melville, 
dominating heads of black rocks outlining the curve 
of Melville Bay. 

At 12.30 P.M. on August 15th we blew our whistle 
under the cliffs of Cape York. Only ten days had been 
consumed in our long trip from Battle Harbor to this 
northern settlement of the Smith Sound tribe. The ice 
of the dreaded Melville Bay had not even scratched our 
paint! 

One hundred years ago, Sir John Ross navigated his 
ship through Melville Bay and arrived at the edge of 
the ice-field attached to these shores. To his amaze- 
ment, black dots were seen rapidly approaching. What 
in the world could they be.'^ Eskimos and their dog- 
teams ! The most northern people in the world ! Eager- 
ly they examined the big ship and in detail everything 
connected with it. Through an interpreter from South 
Greenland they asked Sir John where he came from. 
He replied: 

"From the south." 

"That is impossible," they said. "No one could live 
down there. All of our ice goes off in that direction. 
It must be now filled up with ice!" 

Doctor Kane, in 1853, and Doctor Hayes, in 1861, 
found but a small population, and stated that in a few 
years undoubtedly the race would vanish. There are 
more to-day than there were then, and they are in- 



18 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 

creasing rapidly. In 1909 the total population of these 
northern shores numbered 218; in 1917, 261. 

Four kayaks shot out from the shore. We scrutinized 
closely the face of each occupant in hopes of recogniz- 
ing an acquaintance of the last Peary Expedition of 
four years before. All Eskimos dress alike and wear 
the hair long, so that their identity is almost indis- 
tinguishable at a distance. We often recognize a man 
by the shape of his kayak, no two of which are exactly 
alike 

"Look at the girls!" exclaimed the crew for'ard, who 
had interpreted the long, flowing hair of the men as 
proof of the opposite sex. The "girls," clothed in seal- 
skin coats and bearskin pants, grinned and nodded in 
response to the salutations of the coal-stained hne of 
faces of the firemen at the rail; they appeared highly 
complimented at the recognition. 

One face looked familiar. Yes, it was faithful old 
Kai-o-ta, my traveling companion on the Polar Sea 
and to the northern point of Greenland in 1909; the 
same Kai-o-ta, to whom Charlie, the cook, gave the 
tabasco sauce when he greedily extended his mouth for 
maple syrup! His oleaginous coat of dirt cracked in 
divers directions upon our mutual recognition. The 
voluble fuzzy center of a group of highly entertained 
white men, he informed me of the whereabouts of the 
boys whom I wanted as dog-drivers and general assist- 
ants — the boys who had been waiting now for four 
years upon my promise to return and lead them far 
west to a new land. 

Two of the best men were twenty miles south. We 
immediately turned back and attempted to penetrate 
the big field of ice lying close to Bushnell Island. A 






s. ^ 



» 


M 




f 


o 


<5 






e^ 


r 


tJ" 


f 


C5" 


K 


CI. 


hrt 


p 


t> 


^ 


Kl 




1913] NORTHWARD HO! 19 

few hours* work convinced me of its impossibility, and 
we steamed north toward Umanak, arriving there at 
2 A.M. on the 16th. Here Panikpa and his two sons, 
Ka-ko-tchee-a and E-took-a-shoo, were told of my 
plans and were soon on board with their wives and 
dogs and all their personal effects. 

We headed now toward the northern settlements, 
hoping to complete our complement of men and dogs. 
Passing Cape Parry, the sharp eye of Ekblaw detected 
a polar bear walking along the shore. Although sadly 
in need of skins for our clothing, I decided to permit 
our sportsmen tourists to have the pleasure of getting 
their first trophy. Our twenty-eight-foot whale-boat 
was launched, manned, and rowed to the shore, along 
which Mr. Bear was proceeding in a leisurely manner, 
wholly unconscious of the whispering, crouching, and a 
bit excited group that followed stealthily from shelter 
to shelter, some armed with gigantic cameras, some 
with heavy rifles, and some with nothing at all. 

Suddenly conscious of the enemy, the bear turned 
at right angles and ran for the water; but not too quick- 
ly for Judge Sprigg. A well-directed shot added another 
trophy to his game list. The head dropped beneath the 
water; the body lay still, and with considerable dij05- 
culty it was rolled into the boat. 

With the bear on our deck we proceeded around Cape 
Parry into Whale and Murchison Sounds, ever on the 
watch for walrus to serve as food for our dogs. 

Two were seen on a pan shortly after passing the 
eastern end of Herbert Island. 

"Do you want them.?" inquired Captain Kehoe. 

"Certainly. I*d like to have them for dog food," 
was my reply. 



20 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 

Without any previous warning to the engine-room, he 
pulled the bridge telegraph to "Stop!" From full speed 
ahead to dead stop was too much to demand of the 
gouty, wheezy old Erik. There was a commotion in the 
engine-room. The second engineer ran for the throttle, 
the chief for the top of the engine-room ladder. His 
fat red face burst out of the companionway, his eyes 
fairly popping with rage. A quick, withering glance at 
the captain on the bridge culminated in the startling 
yell of, "You'll blow her up!" and in an equally sudden 
disappearance. 

The innocent and crestfallen captain looked at the 
hole leading to the engine-room, at the water rushing 
by without any notable cessation, and at me with a be- 
wildered look upon his face. Finally he blurted out: 

"What koind of a ship is it that they can't stop her .5^ 
I never heard of such a thing in all me days!" 

There was land ahead, and I wondered if Captain 
Kehoe seriously thought of putting the wheel hard over 
and letting the Erik travel in circles ! She slowed down, 
however, somewhat cautiously, as an old body should, 
but complaining bitterly, as she always did. 

Under the direction of Murphy, our second mate, 
two walrus were shot upon the pan and hoisted to our 
deck with the steam- winch. 

At Ig-loo-da-houny, in Murchison Sound, we found a 
large number of Eskimos in camp and we selected three 
desirable men — Arklio, Teddy-ling-wa, and Tau-ching- 
wa. It is interesting to note that all these northern 
Eskimos, although apparently very prosperous and not 
in need of white man's goods because of the proximity 
of the Danish trading-station at North Star Bay, were 
very anxious to accompany us. 




WHEREVER JIOTHER GOES, BABY GOES, SNUGGLED IN 
THE HOOD AGAINST THE WARM BACK 




A GOOD WIFE IS A GOOD CHEWER. BOOT SOLES ARE A GOOD TEST OF TEETH 



1913] NORTHWARD HO! 21 

The Eskimo really seems to appreciate the stranger's 
companionship, and he enjoys the varied experiences 
which he is bound to have when in search of new lands. 
The Eskimo is a true nomad. Nothing delights him so 
much as the knowledge of the fact that he alone of the 
assembled company has been far north or west and 
knows the way to distant hunting-grounds. "With the 
certainty of the white man's food and strong equipment 
and the comfort derived from tobacco, he loves to 
undertake these sometimes dangerous journeys. As old 
Panikpa once said: 

"We never worry on such trips. We let the white 
man do that." 

Nerky, fifteen miles north, furnished us with Noo- 
ka-ping-wa and Oo-bloo-ya, the former quite unknown 
to me, but the latter a well-tried and trusty man. At 
Etah, where we arrived at 11 p.m. on the 18th, one more 
boy, Ah-pellah, was taken because of his knowledge of 
lands to the far west. 

On the 19th we began to buck the ice of Smith Sound 
in the endeavor to cross to the selected site of our winter 
quarters at the mouth of Flagler Bay, eighty miles due 
northwest. A few hours' work convinced me that my 
captain had no intention whatever of placing the old 
Erik beyond that running stream of ice pouring through 
the narrowest part of Smith Sound. Compelled by the 
insurance company to select a man with a "ticket," 
we had to sacrifice experience in ice navigation to book 
learning and a knowledge of finding longitude and lati- 
tude. The captain was afraid the ship would be com- 
pelled to winter in the far North, and he hung obsti- 
nately and tenaciously to the eastern side of the Sound 
and well out of all danger of being caught or carried 



22 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 

to the south by drifting ice. For six long days we 
worked back and forth along the edge of the pack, 
scarcely bumping a pan and feeling quite secure from 
the terrors of the Arctic regions. How I wanted Bob 
Bartlett! 

On the 25th my patience was exhausted. I realized 
that we were simply wasting time yachting in Arctic 
seas, and I ordered Captain Kehoe to land me at the 
nearest spot, Etah, North Greenland, with a full realiza- 
tion of the fact that our" goal was across the dreaded 
waters of Smith Sound and that what should have been 
done by the ship must now be done over the ice in 
early spring with dog-team. Fortunately, my experi- 
ence when here with Peary in 1908-09 stood me in good 
stead, enabling me to acquire a knowledge of Etah Har- 
bor and its surroundings. 



n 

ETAH 

/^N August 26th we moored ship close to the rocks 
^-^ of Provision Point, Etah Harbor, and in two days 
and a half, with the help of our Eskimos, all the supplies 
and equipment of the Crocker Land Expedition were 
landed upon the rocks. On the 30th the Erik blew her 
whistle, dipped her flag, and was soon out of sight around 
Cape Alexander, ten miles to the south. There were 
no tears in our eyes or feelings of regret that we had 
chosen to remain. We were glad to see her go and thus 
sever all ties with home and civilization. 

The name Etah, the most northern settlement in the 
world, is so well known that it may be somewhat of a 
shock to learn that what is considered to be a thriving 
settlement really consists of five black-looking holes in 
a sloping hillside. A careful census reveals the amazing 
fact that in some years even these holes are not in- 
habited — a deserted village. Other years, however, the 
streets are crowded with as many as fifteen people! 
Upon our arrival we found a serious congestion — nine- 
teen men, women, and children. 

Etah, or Foulke Fiord, is situated on the shores of 
North Greenland at the narrowest part of Smith Sound, 
in latitude 78° 20', 700 miles from the North Pole. It 



24 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 

was first visited by white men upon the arrival of mem- 
bers of the Kane Expedition in 1854, who found some 
ten or a dozen Eskimos encamped here. It was named 
Foulke Fiord after William Parker Foulke, of Philadel- 
phia, by Dr. Isaac Israel Hayes, who wintered in 1860- 
61 at a small bight in the land just south of the entrance, 
which he called Port Foulke. 

At the head of the fiord, which is four miles in length, 
and separated from it only by a narrow neck of land, 
lies Alida Lake, named after a -friend of August Sonntag, 
the astronomer of both the Kane and Hayes Expeditions. 
Into Alida Lake dips Brother John's Glacier, so called 
by Doctor Kane after his brother, John Kane, who 
visited this spot in 1855 on the relief expedition. Etah 
itself is a beautiful harbor, with its cliffs rising almost 
from the water's edge to the height of 1,100 feet, and it 
is one of the very few good harbors in North Greenland, 
since it opens toward the southwest, a quarter from 
which few gales ever come. 

Etah has played an important role in Arctic history. 
Standing on the heights of the hills, we had before us 
in panorama a complete picture of the struggle of the 
last sixty -five years, a story of great endeavor, of hercu- 
lean effort, of triumph over all obstacles, of victory 
won; a story of disaster, of shattered hopes, of utter 
defeat, starvation, and death. 

In August, 1852, the Isabel, under the command of 
Capt. E. A. Inglefield, came around Cape Alexander, ten 
miles to the south, and "beheld the open sea stretching 
through seven points of the compass." Bravely she 
bore up, bucking into a heavy head sea and strong 
northerly wind, but just above Etah she was compelled 
to swing on her heel and drive rapidly south over the 



1913] 



ETAH 



25 



distant horizon. One year later the little brig Advance, 
under the command of the first American explorer, Dr. 
Elisha Kent Kane, came sailing around the same point. 
Her men landed on the shores of Littleton Island, built 
a cairn, raised their flag, and celebrated the record of 
farthest north in Smith Sound. The ship proceeded. 




ETAH AND VICINITY 



and disappeared around Cape Hatherton, ten miles to 
the north. 

One year later a group of men appeared from the north, 
dragging a whaling-boat. It was launched, and off they 
sped toward Beechy Island to obtain help, if possible, 
from Sir Edward Belcher's squadron, fast frozen in the 
ice. Early in August the boat returned and disappeared 
again into the north. Another year went by, and then 
two boats were seen being dragged slowly southward 



26 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 

over the ice toward Littleton Island. Doctor Kane 
and his men, after two years of hardships, had decided 
to abandon the good ship Advance in Rensselaer Harbor 
and sail south in their little boats toward the South 
Greenland settlements. The Eskimos of Etah fed them 
day after day on the bodies of the little auks. The 
boats went south and disappeared around Cape 
Alexander. 

Two months later the steamship Arctic, under the com- 
mand of Lieut. H. J. Hartstene, steamed slowly along the 
shore in search of Doctor Kane and his men. Upon 
being informed by the Etah Eskimos that the white 
men had gone south, the steamship turned and dis- 
appeared in the distance. In 1860 the little schooner 
United States, under the command of Dr. Isaac I. Hayes, 
appeared. Buffeted by wind and ice, she crept into the 
niche below Etah Harbor, almost a complete wreck. 
Here she remained during the winter, while the men in 
the early spring plodded northward, dragging their boats 
on their sledges, hoping to launch them in an open polar 
sea. In 1861 she, too, sailed away toward the south. 

Ten years later the U.S.S. Polaris, under the command 
of Charles Francis Hall, steamed proudly past Etah, 
through Smith Sound, Kane Basin, Kennedy Channel, 
and Robeson Channel to the record-breaking latitude of 
82° 11'. One year later she drifted helplessly southward, 
locked in the ice. In danger of being crushed, the men 
threw boxes of food over the rail onto the ice-floe. The 
crack between the ship and the floe widened. Nineteen 
men, women, and children, adrift on the pan, started 
on their long trip of 1,300 miles through the darkness of 
the winter night, to be picked up off Grady Harbor, 
Labrador, on April 30, 1873. The remainder of the crew 



1913] ETAH 27 

worked their ship through the broken floes into a shel- 
tered nook on the mainland just north of Littleton 
Island. The ship was stripped of everything valuable, 
and a small house was constructed to serve as winter 
quarters. In the spring two boats were built, and 
passed Etah on their way south. The ship drifted from 
the beach and sank between Littleton Island and the 
mainland. 

In 1875 two of England's proudest and best ships, 
the Alert and Discovery, steamed grandly by and dis- 
appeared over the northern horizon on their way to the 
North Pole. One year later the little Pandora, under 
command of Sir Allen Young, paced restlessly back and 
forth at the edge of the big ice-field stretching across to 
Cape Isabella, in the hopes of being able to penetrate 
the pack and get into communication with Sir George 
Nares, who was at the same time slowly making his way 
southward down through Kennedy and Robeson Chan- 
nels, homeward bound. In a few weeks the two ships 
sailed toward the south, having broken the world's record 
for farthest North. 

In 1881 the American flag again entered Smith Sound. 
Greely, of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, steamed 
by in the Proteus on his way to winter quarters in 
Lady Franklin Bay on the eastern shores of Grant Land. 
The ship returned, leaving these men in the far North 
with the understanding that a ship was to visit the 
station each year. In 1882 the Neptune cruised in vain 
along the edge of the ice opposite Etah, looking for an 
opportunity to get through. She failed in her purpose 
and retreated south. In 1883 the Proteus again passed 
Etah. She proceeded to Cape Sabine, and within a few 
hours after leaving that point was crushed in the ice 



28 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 

and disappeared. The men passed Etali in three small 
boats on their way southward. Late in the fall of the 
same year a party of men were seen drifting far out in 
the ice of Smith Sound. They zigzagged back and forth 
across the channel, and finally succeeded in landing at 
Eskimo Point on the Ellesmere Land coast, some thirty 
miles west of Etah. Greely and his men were obeying 
orders and going to their death. They walked north- 
ward to Cape Sabine, built a hut there, and died one by 
one until only seven were left. 

In 1884 two ships sent by the United States govern- 
ment, under the command of Captain, later Admiral, 
Schley, arrived at Etah in search of the lost expedition. 
An examination of the cache established at Littleton 
Island in 1882 revealed the fact that Greely and his 
men had not passed that point. The two ships steamed 
through the ice to Cape Sabine. There, on Brevoort 
Island, a note was found informing the searchers that 
Greely and his men were in camp some three miles 
away, on the opposite shores of Bedford Pim Island. In 
a few days the two ships passed Etah with the living 
and the dead, bound south to report to the homeland 
the result of their search. 

In 1897 another ship steamed past this spot. It was 
Peary on a reconnaissance of the Smith Sound route 
to the Pole. The year 1898 saw the flags of two nations 
go by, the American expedition under the command of 
Peary, and the Norwegian expedition in the old Fram, 
under the leadership of Sverdrup. An exceptionally 
hard year prevented progress toward the north, with 
the result that 1899 saw both ships anchored in Etah 
Harbor. The years 1900-01 again saw the ships of 
Peary engaged in the work, bringing supplies, and taking 



1913] ETAH 29 

him southward in 1902. In 1905 the S.S. Roosevelt en- 
tered upon the scene. More strongly built than all the 
others, she plowed her way through the heavy ice of the 
Smith Sound route, steaming farther north than any 
ship has ever steamed and reaching her winter quarters 
on the northern shores of Grant Land. In 1906 she 
crept into Etah Harbor, a battered hulk. In 1907 
Doctor Cook arrived in the John R. Bradley and pro- 
ceeded on toward Annoritok. The year 1908 beheld 
the Roosevelt again, with her consort, the Erik, steaming 
proudly into Etah, loaded to the rail with dogs and 
Eskimos, in her last and successful attempt to reach the 
North Pole. Here again, in 1909, she steamed south 
with colors flying, to announce the attainment of the 
three-hundred-year prize. In 1910 the Beothic, char- 
tered by Rainey, under the command of Bartlett, 
steamed into Etah, crossed the Sound, and disappeared 
southward. In 1913 the Crocker Land Expedition en- 
tered upon the stage. The old Erik landed her supplies, 
as I have said, blew her whistle, and disappeared aromid 
Cape Alexander. 

As soon as we had landed, my first thought was that 
the game supply might prove inadequate for the needs 
of the expedition party and our Eskimo recruits; there- 
fore I decided to send them all south again to their 
homes, with the exception of old Panikpa and his fam- 
ily and E-took-a-shoo, with orders to report to me the 
following February. 

I remembered Peary's experience here in 1899-1900 
with strong winds which swept down off the Greenland 
ice-cap and across the harbor out to sea; this induced 
me to build our house in the vicinity of the centuries-old 
rock igloos of the natives, trusting to their judgment 



30 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Sept. 

to discover the sheltered sites. Subsequent years proved 
that there were no favorable building lots in Etah Fiord. 
However, here we were and here we must live. A green 
spot on the northern shores, a few yards distant from 
a waterfall and running stream, was selected for the 
location of our northern home. We pitched our tents 
and our Arctic life began. We blew out the large boul- 
ders with dynamite to level the foundation of our house, 
and excavated two large rooms which later proved to 
be most attractive abodes for our Eskimo helpers. The 
boys worked long and hard from seven in the morning 
to eleven at night, through all kinds of wind and weather; 
through rain, snow, and sleet. 

To his many scientific attainments Ekblaw added 
those of a practical workman, so to him was intrusted 
the planning and building of the eight-foot shed encircling 
two sides of our house, a very valuable addition, serving 
as meat, harness, and provision room, and also as an 
Eskimo igloo. The work was admirably done. 

In two weeks, under the direction of Small, master 
builder, our house was habitable. During the four 
years we lived there we were very comfortable in all 
kinds of weather, with the consumption of only thirty- 
five tons of coal, which we had landed on the beach in 
bags previous to the departure of the Erik. Our house 
was thirty-five feet square, double, with a four-inch air- 
space constructed of seven-eighth-inch boards, tongued 
and grooved, covered with Cabot quilt and rubberoid 
roofing. Eight rooms on the ground floor were appar- 
ently a luxury, but they were really necessary and most 
conducive toward the happiness of the men and the 
successful carrying out of our plans. 

Leading off from our large living-room were four bed- 




INDICATES SLEDGE ROUTES OF VARIOUS TRIPS 



19131 ETAH 31 

rooms which also served as working-rooms. In the rear 
were three rooms — a workshop, an electrical room con- 
taining our oil-engine, batteries, etc., and a photographic 
dark-room. To the sm*prise of the Eskimos, our house 
was fitted with electric lights. A large flash-light bver 
the door welcomed visiting Eskimos from the south 
and proved of great value in loading and unloading 
sledges during the long, dark winter night. The electric 
current, generated by a beautiful oil-engine and dyna- 
mo, was a necessary part of our wireless equipment. 

In my room there was a telephone connected with the 
igloos of the Eskimos — another wonder, and one which 
caused no end of talk. Requests from the cave-men 
came thick and fast for tobacco! A people really 
living in the stone age were enjoying, as though by a 
wave of the hand, two of the greatest of modern dis- 
coveries. They never quite understood the telephone 
or electric lights, wondering how sound or light could 
possibly travel through a soiid wire! 

Our meteorological work began with our landing upon 
the shore, and was continued uninterruptedly for four 
years, with the exception of a break in our observations 
of about ten days in September, 1915, when all the men 
were away from Etah. 

I realized the importance of having plenty of fresh 
meat for my men, and I encouraged the Eskimos to 
hunt incessantly and bring to the house for trade all 
that they could possibly spare. As a result, when dark- 
ness settled down over the land in October, for the long 
period of 118 days, our meat-room was well stocked 
with the bodies of frozen hare, eider duck, seal, walrus, 
and caribou meat. 

Much has been said pro and con about the use of fur 



32 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Oct. 

clothing in the Arctic. An expedition of some years 
ago objected to furs because of the smell; others have 
criticized their use because of the unbearable heat con- 
sequent upon hard work. I received my training under 
Peary, a man of twenty years of most successful work in 
the far North, and naturally I approved and followed 
his methods in every detail of my work. I consider 
furs absolutely essential and indeed indispensable for 
the hard, cold work of the early spring trips of February, 
March, and April. "Do as the Eskimos do; dress as 
the Eskimos dress," is a good adage to follow. 

It occurred to me, when fitting out the expedition, 
that here would be an opportunity to experiment upon 
the relative value of woolens and furs, by offering to 
the men a choice between the most approved wind- 
proof material obtained in this country and the light, 
warm furs of the far North. The personnel of the 
Crocker Land Expedition had the very best cold-weather 
clothing which could be bought in New York City, and 
yet not a man seriously thought at any time of wearing 
the high-priced woolen suit. We deferred to the judg- 
ment of people who have been living here at the top 
of the earth for centuries. 

The services of the Eskimo women at Etah were in- 
valuable. Within a few months every man was beauti- 
fully and warmly clad in caribou-sldn coats, bearskin 
pants, and sealskin boots, and each one was ready and 
eager for the big work of the expedition to begin — ^the 
exploration of Crocker Land far out on the Polar Sea, 
due northwest of Cape Thomas Hubbard. 

With the forming of sea ice Etah was the Mecca of 
the North; all roads led from the south. Eskimo men, 
women, and children, with their dog-teams, came from 



1913J ETAH 33 

200 miles away to see the white strangers and their 
wonderful house at Etah. Our home was overcrowded 
with the bodies of sixty Eskimos, sleeping in our attic, 
in the carpenter's shop, in the dark-room, under our 
beds, and under the floor. Two hundred loose dogs 
prowled about the grounds. There was very little dog 
food in the settlement, and our visitors remained until 
their dogs were so weak that they could hardly pull 
them toward their southern homes. They wanted to 
see all, and to hear all, and our boys entertained them in 
every conceivable way. 

Ekblaw never tired of amusing them, seated about 
our big kitchen table, with games of the homeland. 
Tanquary sang to them in his deep bass voice to the 
accompaniment of his guitar. Jot Small had a partially 
bald head, a wrinkled face, long red whiskers, and a most 
extraordinary knowledge of the Eskimo language, which, 
when accompanied by a vigorous waving of both arms, 
brought forth gales of laughter. Hunt was the Ange- 
kok, the big-medicine man! He had bottles of wonder- 
ful pills! He could sew up wounds with needle and 
thread! He could put you to sleep and cut off fingers 
and toes! And he could pull teeth so quickly that you 
could hardly feel it! The big doctor had a warm place 
in their hearts. But Allen was the man who made the 
lights in the big dark-room, the man who put the very 
devil in door-latches so you could not get in, and the 
same thing in bowls of water! 

The days were shortening gradually, until finally 
came October 24th, when the sun dropped below the 
horizon. Former travelers have described in detail the 
frightfulness of the Arctic night. They have failed to 
tell of the indescribable beauty, the solemnity, which 



34 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Oct. 

pervades and embraces all, when the sea ice, the valleys, 
the hills, the peaks, and the receding glaciers are bathed 
in the lights and shadows of a revolving full moon. A 
fairyland of the dreams of childhood! 

None of the earlier expeditions ever thought of at- 
tempting sledge-work during the darkness of the winter 
period, regarding it as positively suicidal. Ships were 
frozen in, housed over, banked deep in snow, and all 
was made comfortable for the cold months to follow. 
Lime-juice and grog were issued. Papers were pub- 
lished. Schools were kept. Daily lessons were as- 
signed. One hour's exercise was enforced. Theaters 
were opened. Birthdays were celebrated — everything 
and anything to divert the mind. Much has been writ- 
ten of **the monotonous night that drives men mad, 
of hair turning gray, of steps growing enfeebled follow- 
ing the departure of the life-giving sun," etc. After 
five years of Arctic work, and four of these years in suc- 
cession, I can truthfully say that never for a minute 
have I missed this "life-giving sun." I never longed for 
it to return; my health was in no way affected by dark- 
ness, and monotony was absolutely unknown. As a boy, 
plunging into the warm waters of Cape Cod, I looked for- 
ward to the freezing of the pond when I could go skating; 
so from the kayak of the Arctic summer months I looked 
forward to the freezing of the great, restless, open sea 
when I could go sledging. 

The returning Arctic explorer is often asked, "What 
can you do during the dark period.'^" Let me enumerate 
the following subjects in which, if one is thoroughly in- 
terested, months of profitable time may be expended: 

(1) Photography. Exceptional opportunities are of- 
fered for securing negatives of the revolving stars. 



1913] ETAH 35 

planets, and moon; long exposures of snow houses and 
Eskimo villages; flash-lights of visiting Eskimos; while 
negatives made during the summer may be classified, 
indexed, and packed away for transportation. During 
the fifteen hundred days in the North I exposed, devel- 
oped, and filed five thousand negatives. 

(2) Meteorology. During the first two years, baro- 
metric and thermometric readings, also cloud percentage 
and force and direction of wind, were recorded every 
hour. During the last two years barographs and ther- 
mographs were recorded every second of the time. 

(3) Zoology. Darkness and low temperatures mili- 
tate to some extent against the handling of equipment 
necessary in the collecting of zoological specimens be- 
neath the ice of fiord, ponds, and lakes. However, it 
can be done and has been done most successfully. The 
fact that conditions are so adverse to life only increases 
one's curiosity and interest; and we also have with us 
for study the larger forms of life, such as the raven, owl, 
hare, fox, caribou, musk-oxen, white wolf, walrus, white 
whale, narwhale, and four varieties of seal. 

(4) Ethnology. Here is a tremendous field. The 
hours of every single day could be expended in noting 
the tales and traditions of the Smith Sound native; in 
studying the very difficult language; in anthropometric 
measurements; in jotting on the Sargent chart the phys- 
ical development of both men and women; and in 
recording their music, their amusements, their philos- 
ophy, and their religion. 

Other absorbing interests I need only mention by 
name: Magnetism, seismology, practical astronomy, 
tidal observations, measurement and growth of the sea 
ice, and temperature records. 



86 lOUIl YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Nov. 

To be happy in the North, and this I consider to be 
the greatest security against illness, it is necessary for 
one to have various interests. If a man is interested in 
one subject only, such as ornithology, what will be the 
result when the birds fly south in September to be gone 
for nine months? A new subject must be taken up 
with the changing seasons, thus bringing contentment 
and a forgetfulness of the great world to the south. 

Those fall months of 1913 were the very busiest of the 
expedition, and every man was enthusiastic and eager 
to contribute sonaething to the work. There was the 
home to build; rooms to be made comfortable; meteoro- 
logical observations to be taken; day and night watches 
to stand, as a preventive against that equipment- 
devouring and plan-destroying enemy — fire; meat to 
get; provisions to be tumped over the rocks for a half- 
mile; and wireless and electric-light plants to be in- 
stalled. 

Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 27th, found 
us well and happy, and abnormally eager to begin upon 
the following menu: 

Little Neck clam broth 

Roast Greenland caribou, cranberry sauce 

Turnips Potatoes 

Apple pie Squash pie 

Plum pudding 

Grape-juice Coffee 

Nuts and raisins McLeod fruit cake 

An Eskimo boy clothed in spotless white waited on 

the table. After we were well rounded out with all 

these good things, thirty -five Eskimos were fed from the 

leavings, all looking supremely happy as the choice 

delicacies disappeared one by one. 




SHOO-E-GING-WA AND HER PET 



Ill 



OITR FIRST WINTER 



^^JHEN we landed at Etah I hoped we might be 
' » able to cross the Sound at least by the 1st of 
February, but as the days went on I could contain my- 
self no longer and felt that something must be done. 
Although I had every reason to believe that a crossing 
of Smith Sound at this time would be impossible, I 
reasoned that it would be of great help to the work if 
an advance depot of supplies could be laid down some 
fifteen miles north of the point of crossing. 

In former years there was always a strong tendency 
to delay the departure of an expedition until the warm 
days of spring. Living, as the men did, in tents, pull- 
ing their own sledges, and clothed in woolens, this was 
but natural. A sixty-below-zero wind coming into 
contact with hot, perspiring, tired men might easily 
defeat all the purposes for which an expedition was 
planned. The date for leaving winter quarters depends 
upon the nature of the work, the physical conditions of 
the country, and the length of the route. When follow- 
ing the indentations of a northern land, such work can 
well be continued until late in June and with profitable 
results, following the traveling upon the so-called ice- 
foot, the great natural highway of the North; but work 



38 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Dec. 

over stretches of water or out over the drift ice of the 
Polar Sea must cease by June 1st to insure the safety 
of the men. The sea ice at this time is rapidly disin- 
tegrating under the warm rays of the spring sun and 
drifting away toward the south in sheets, leaving large 
lanes of water, barriers to dog and sledge. The longer 
the route under such conditions, the earlier should be 
the start, in order that the party may reach home in 
good season. 

On the return from our projected 1,400-mile trip, 
the dangerous waters of Smith Sound lay across our 
course, directly in sight of home. In certain years this 
stretch of water, under the stress of strong southerly 
gales, has broken up early and rapidly, and so much was 
to be done at Etah during the summer months that I 
could take no chances whatever of not getting back to 
Borup Lodge. 

December 6th saw the beginning of my plan. Be- 
neath the glow of a big electric light over our door our 
five sledges were being packed for the north, and four 
Eskimo sledges for the south. The dogs were yelping 
and tugging at their traces, impatient to be off; the 
Eskimos were shouting, the whips were snapping. At 
last work had begun! Oh, the joy of the whole thing! 
I envied Ekblaw and Green their initiatory ride as they 
snuggled up behind their drivers, ready to start with 
supplies for the first depot. 

At ten in the evening of the 8th they were back, re- 
porting excellent going, the depot established, the 
Sound apparently frozen, and a temperature at the 
cache of thirty-nine below zero — all of which seemed too 
good to be true. The bitter disappointment consequent 
upon the failure of our ship to land us at the head of 



1913] OUR FIRST WINTER 39 

Flagler Bay was somewhat mitigated by the hope that 
we might possibly cross over the thin ice at this unpre- 
cedented time of year. "Rush" was the word before 
a southerly gale should break up the ice of Smith Sound. 
Clothing v/as dried. Repairs were made to sledges and 
harness. On the 11th they were off again, with orders 
to cross to Cape Sabine with full loads. From there 
they were to proceed well up Buchanan Bay and estab- 
lish Depot B. 

On the 15th the boys were back with the shout from 
Toi-tee-a, "We have killed five polar bears!" Fresh 
meat for our table and warm skins for our pants! And 
Depot B, to my joy, had been established at Cape 
Rutherford, some fifty miles to the west. This ad- 
vance of 1,738 pounds of biscuit and pemmican over 
the thin ice of Smith Sound in the middle of the 
long night was the first great step toward the success- 
ful completion of our spring work. With this accom- 
plished, we could now concentrate for the next six 
weeks upon the experimenting and perfecting of our 
field equipment. 

Sledges were continually coming and going. Doctor 
Hunt left on the 14th in response to a call from an 
Eskimo to the south. Allen's illness on the 15 th caused 
me considerable anxiety, necessitating a message to 
Doctor Hunt to return at once. He got back on the 
19th, having covered the distance of 100 miles with 
Noo-ka-ping-wa and dog-team in two marches. 

Jot Small stuck his head out of the door in October, 
pulled it in quickly, and declared that he was not going 
out again until spring! Threatened mth scurvy and 
other dreadful Arctic diseases, he was prevailed upon to 
accompany Tanquary on a short trip south to the near- 



40 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Dec. 

est Eskimo village of Nerky. When they arrived at 
their first camp below Cape Alexander, at the old, un- 
inhabited village of Sulwuddy, imagine their astonish- 
ment to find Ak-kom-mo-ding-wa, age fifty-seven, snugly 
ensconced in a new snow house with his temporarily 
exchanged wife, Ah-took-sung-Wa. Panikpa, age fifty- 
six, was headed south on his honeymoon, equally as well 
pleased with his new acquisition. This interchange 
was for six days only ! 

On December 19th Kood-look-to, an old friend of the 
1908 expedition, arrived from his igloo, 250 miles away, 
to pay his respects to the newly arrived visitors. He 
had learned from the Eskimos that I had tried to reach 
him with the ship in August, so he harnessed his dogs 
and started for Etah at once. I was glad to see this 
companion of my trip of 1908 to the most northern 
point of land in the world. He also accompanied me 
on my visit to Fort Conger in June of that year. I re- 
member well how he stalked about the grounds in sol- 
dier's uniform and hand-bag! He found a bronze pro- 
peller, suspended it from a tripod, and banged it with 
a rock, awaking the echoes of the hills a dozen times 
a day. Wondering what he was up to one morning, I 
peeped into his tent, where was revealed to my astonished 
eyes a toy sledge drawn by three lemming and moving 
rapidly across the floor! How he laughed to see Jack, 
our sailor from the S.S. Roosevelt, from behind the corner 
of old Fort Conger, wriggling along cautiously on his 
belly through the snow for fifty yards, to shoot a dead 
duck comfortably seated upon an ice-cake — one we had 
placed there while Jack was asleep. Kood-look-to had 
much to tell me, but the chief item of interest was 
that he had found a meteorite near his igloo as large 




THE BRIGHT, SNAPPY FACE OF AN ESKIMO CHILD 



1913] OUR FIRST WINTER 41 

as our cooking-stove! He had promised this to Ras- 
mussen for the Danish government. 

At noon of the 21st, the shortest and darkest day of 
the year, we could easily detect a faint glow of light 
in the south. The true darkness of night is the result 
of a complete disappearance of all traces of twilight, 
which occurs when the sun reaches a point of eighteen 
degrees below the horizon. Our latitude was 78° 20', 
therefore the sun at this time was only about twelve 
degrees below the horizon. 

On Christmas Day we — including Tanquary and Jot, 
back from the south — sat down to a glorious dinner 
especially prepared and packed in New York by Presi- 
dent Osborn of the American Museum of Natural 
History. The menu: 

Cocktails 
Mock- turtle soup 
Roast turkey, cranberry sauce 

Green corn on the cob 
Plum pudding, brandy sauce 
Pineapple Ginger 
Nuts and Raisins 
Coffee Cigars 
Enrico Caruso, Melba, Schumann-Heink, Gogorza, 
Evan Williams, and other operatic stars were each in- 
troduced for our pleasure through the kindness of the 
Victrola Company. 

In the evening, each one of our sixty-one Eskimo 
visitors received a portion of one of three large, delicious 
fruit cakes presented to me by my good friend, M. J. 
Look, of Kingston, New York, and each one exclaimed, 
" Ma-much-to-suahr ("My, but that tastes good!") 
Hundreds of presents sent by my friends to these far- 



42 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Jan. 

away people were stacked upon the table. Never be- 
fore had they had such a night. It will be a long-re- 
membered Christmas for them all. 

The new year of 1914 was ushered into Borup Lodge 
with a snap and a bang and a yell from our excited 
visitors. Three bunches of firecrackers were placed be- 
neath a large inverted pan upon our center-table. The 
match was applied and the fun began, to be continued 
a few minutes later in front of the house, when all were 
supplied with firecrackers and slow matches! What a 
time they had! And what startling tricks they tried 
to play upon one another! Reluctantly and drowsily 
we went to our bunks at three in the morning, asking 
ourselves the question, "What has the new year in 
store for us.f*" 

On the 3d, Ekblaw, our geologist, departed for the 
south to examine, at the request of Rasmussen, the 
meteorite Kood-look-to had found below Cape York. 
This is undoubtedly one of the great shower of stones 
which fell in that vicinity centuries ago. Peary secured 
three of these meteorites in 1896-97 and they are now 
on exhibition at the American Museum of Natural 
History in New York City. 

On the 4th I left for a little run with my dogs to the 
village of Nerky, forty-five miles away. But my return 
on the 8th was not without an exciting incident. Cape 
Alexander is held in the icy embrace of the Crystal 
Palace Glacier, one arm of which dips into the sea to 
the north of the cape, and the other to the south. 
Sledges proceeding south from Etah never go around 
the cape, but cut off at least six miles by crossing this 
glacier, where the evil spirits certainly dwell if they 
dwell anywhere. The thrills experienced there during 



1914] OUR FIRST WINTER 43 

the four years ! It is a common and expected occurrence 
to go from a star-studded sky, a big full moon, and the 
weird stillness of the Arctic night, into a raging wind 
and a blinding, choking drift — conditions which often 
compel one to bury his tingling face deep in the furs 
topping the load and trust to the dogs for guidance. 
My first trip nearly cost me my life. Over-confident in 
my knowledge of Arctic sledge-work, I was leading my 
two Eskimos. As I reached the very summit I snapped 
out my long whip and yelled to the dogs for more speed. 
I got it ! I thoroughly enjoyed that rush of air and the 
leap and bound of the sledge plunging down into the 
darkness, blissfully ignorant of the ice wall at the end 
of the trail and the forty-foot drop into the slush- 
covered sea; then suddenly the dark surface flashed up 
before me. Rush of wind, crunch of sledge, and yelps 
of dogs all seemed to mock my best efforts of whip and 
voice. On the very brink the team shot to the left 
up the snow-covered talus and so quickly that I was 
nearly snapped off into space. How the dogs laughed, 
wagged their tails, and rubbed their fine heads against 
my bearskin pants! The curses hurled at them a few 
seconds before because of their stupidity for rushing 
blindly into death gave way to words of endearment 
and appreciative stroking of their intelligent heads and 
lithe bodies. 

In my five years* work among these dogs I have failed 
to find the species described by writers as "treacher- 
ous" or "vicious" or "ugly brutes." On the contrary, 
the full-blooded Eskimo dog is one of the most affection- 
a e in the world. A hundred or more were often about 
our door. My men passed in and out among them with- 
out the least fear. Two hundred and fifty were berthed 



44 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Jan. 

on the deck of the Roosevelt. To walk for*ard it was 
often necessary to push them aside with the knees. Not 
a man was ever bitten. No man, woman, or child in the 
far North has ever been attacked, and not more than 
three or four in the whole tribe have ever been bitten. 

These dogs are supposed to be the direct descendants 
of the northern gray or white wolf, which they greatly 
resemble, with the exception of the tightly curled tail. 
They are of various colors — black, white, brown, brindle, 
and gray — and they weigh from sixty to one hundred 
pounds. A team consists of from eight to twelve, each 
attached to the sledge by a sixteen-foot rawhide trace. 
The advantages of this arrangement are obvious. 
Seated on the sledge with a twenty-five-foot whip, one 
can reach out and touch the back of every dog, thereby 
keeping him in his place and exerting him to keep his 
trace tight. The disadvantages are the indirect pull of 
the dogs at the tips of the fan and the inevitable braid- 
ing of the traces into a rope as large as one's arm, the 
untangling of which at low temperature necessitates 
hours and hours of extreme discomfort. 

Eighty pounds to a dog is a good load for the average 
sledging surface encountered on a long spring trip. The 
strength of the driver is to be equally considered with 
that of the dogs. Very often — a dozen times a day — 
one is called upon to wrestle with his sledge to save it 
from destruction. The load must be lifted bodily again 
and again in endeavoring to extricate the sledge from 
a troublesome crack in the ice or from the depths of a 
deep hole; while the dogs are wagging their tails or 
sitting on their haunches, much interested in the whole 
proceeding. Given the smooth, hard surface of a fiord, 
and my ten dogs could easily pull two thousand pounds. 



191'] OUR FIRST WINTER 45 

But at the first obstruction, such as rough ice, the 
sledge would go to pieces; and if a hill or glacier was to 
be negotiated, then it would be necessary to unload and 
carry the cargo to the top piece by piece. Therefore, 
the question as to how much dogs can pull is a difficult 
one to answer, depending upon the qualities of the 
sledge, upon the distance to be traveled, upon the 
strength of the driver, upon the strength of the dogs, 
and again and always upon the sledging surface. 

On the 1914 trip my ten dogs were pulling, upon 
leaving home, Q15 pounds; on the 1917 trip they were 
handling 850. 

But to get back to the glacier. On our return, in 
company with many visiting sledges, the descending 
northern slope was taken with the same speed, but with 
the comforting thought that the end was a soft snow- 
bank. When half-way down I looked back over my 
shoulder at Noo-ka-ping-wa's leaping team, and, to my 
horror, discovered We-we, his wife, clinging alone to 
the swaying load of bags and skins! Heavens! And 
she was to become a mother within a few days! What 
was he trying to do.^^ Kill her? Rolling from the 
sledge, I turned and ran back up the slope, hoping to 
check the team with the whip. The dogs swerved down 
into the gully between the glacier and the cliff. A 
plunge, a leap of the sledge, a shower of sparks, and 
then all was still. An arm protruded from beneath the 
confused mass. As I lifted the sledge my gravest fears 
were quickly dispelled by a smothered laugh. She 
calmly informed me that she had had a very fast ride. 
My conclusion was that if her man wanted to kill her 
he must take an ax and catch her asleep! 



IV 

IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 

THERE were no eight-hour laws at Borup Lodge for 
the month of January, 1914; we were a busy 
munition-factory, working long overtime in preparation 
for the struggle to come. Sledges, stanch and strong, 
constructed of the best of oak, and lashed with the best 
of rawhide, issued one by one from the doors of the big 
workroom. As children are delighted with toys, so 
were the Eskimos as they gathered around these new 
productions, admiring the apparent strength, the grace- 
ful bows, and the raking upstanders. The hum of the 
blue-flame field-stove was almost incessant as the boys 
continually experimented and perfected the equipment 
upon which their comfort and health were to depend. 

During the extremely low temperatures of February 
boiling-hot tea is a life-saver. Two other things only 
do we now consider necessary — biscuit and pemmican. 
And upon these three articles of food a man can do 
the hardest kind of physical work and remain per- 
fectly well. Each of our two meals a day consisted of 
half a pound of biscuit and half a pound of pemmican. 
Pemmican is a Cree word, a term applied to a highly 
concentrated and nutritious food, consisting principally 
of two ingredients, dried meat and suet; but white men 



1914] IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 47 

and various tribes in Africa have added vegetables, 
oatmeal, raisins, currants, sugar, wild cherries, and even 
honey. Amundsen on his South Pole trip used a pemmi- 
can made of dried fish and lard. 

Certain tribes of Hudson Bay know it under the name 
"thewhagon" and others call it "achees." In drying 
meat loses three-fourths of its moisture, yet retains all 
of its nutritive properties. As a result it becomes an 
extremely valuable food for the explorer, who is often 
compelled to carry food for a thousand miles or more 
and is forever confronted by that problem, "How can 
I lighten my load?'* 

In general, it can be said that pemmican is not pala- 
table and not easily digested, but that made for the 
Crocker Land Expedition was delicious and satisfying. 
Put up in eight-pound tins for the dogs and six-pound 
for the men, it was easily handled for transportation. 
With a clip of the ax the frozen block was readily di- 
vided for consumption at the end of the march. And 
every crumb was picked and lapped from the snow! 

Each man was clothed in the conventional dress of 
the Smith Sound Eskimo — caribou-skin coat, bearskin 
pants, seal, caribou, and bearskin boots, and hareskin 
stockings. For the last we substituted sheepskin, sac- 
rificing but little warmth for a tremendous increase in 
durability. Boots made of the skin of the forelegs of 
a polar bear, with a sole of the bearded, or thong, seal, 
are undeniably the warmest product of the northeifii 
Eskimo shoemaker. 

At moderately low temperatures, twenty and thirty 
below, a boot of the forelegs of the caribou is very satis- 
factory. The sealskin boot, called the kamik, is the 
boot in general use among the Eskimos of Smith Sound. 



48 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Jan. 

The sole of all the boots is made from the extremely- 
tough skin of the bearded seal {Erignaihus harhatus). 

Beneath the fur. clothing we wore a light suit of 
woolen to prevent chafing and to absorb perspiration. 
If one is clothed in this manner and is dry, he can lie 
in the snow and sleep in perfect comfort at fifty and 
sixty below zero. I believe Peary was the first Arctic 
explorer to attempt work during the extremely low 
temperature of February and March without a sleeping- 
bag. We adopted the Peary method on many of our 
journeys. We contracted slightly the fur-bordered 
opening of the hood; bound the bottom of our caribou- 
skin coats tightly between our legs; withdrew our arms 
and placed them upon the warm body; tucked the 
ever-to-be-desired mittens into the empty sleeves; and 
then, with a hunch of the shoulder, placed the sleeve 
over the face to protect it from freezing. 

Sleeping in this manner, one is ever ready for an 
emergency call, such as the inevitable rush of one's 
dogs, which frequently break the fastenings; the visit 
of a polar bear; or the not remote possibility of the 
cracking of the sea ice, resulting in a slowly widening 
fissure beneath the bed. The last contingency may have 
been the cause of the loss of Captain Cagni's first sup- 
porting party, which was returning under the command 
of Lieutenant Querini from a point of eighty-eight miles 
offshore. Not a trace of the three men or their equip- 
ment was ever found. 

The adage of the woolen-clothed explorer of a half 
a century ago, "To sleep means death," has lost its 
meaning. It would be absolutely impossible for a man 
clothed as we were to freeze to death. 

We tested the strength and fitness of every item of 




NO PLATES OR FORKS IN THE NqrtH. THE MEAT IS 
MEASURED IN THE MOUTH AND CUT AT THE LIPS 




NARWHAL. THE RAW SKIN IS PRIZED AS A DELICACY 
From the thread meat of the back the Eskimo women obtain sinew for sewing. 



1914] IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 49 

our equipment again and again. The smallest detail 
received as much consideration as the largest. *'Look 
for the best, but be prepared for the worst," should be 
the motto of the Arctic man. To economize in weight, 
all tins of pemmican were removed from the cases, to 
be packed in long, rectangular canvas bags fitted to the 
bottom of our sledges. To guard against a possible 
breaking up of the sea ice around Sunrise Point, four 
miles to the west, which would necessitate an overland 
trip, all loads were advanced up the coast to Cape 
Ohlsen, six miles distant. The increasing brightness of 
the southern skies in January witnessed our preparations 
being rushed to completion. Ekblaw arrived home 
from his southern trip on the 21st, much more welcome 
than the news which he brought with him — influenza 
and mumps had arrived from Upernavik with the mail 
a few weeks before, and were traveling toward Etah. 
His swollen face a few days later and the vomiting of 
Green heralded the arrival of the minor plagues. 

But I would permit nothing to interfere with our 
plans. If the dogs could walk, then we would start 
in early February. As the Eskimos arrived day by 
day, it was very evident that many of the men were 
not fit for the work ahead of them; but there was not 
a word of complaint; they were all eager for the ad- 
venture. 

There are distinct advantages to be gained by de- 
spatching the various divisions of a large expedition 
upon successive days. With the departure of only 
three or four sledges at a time, the smallest detail per- 
taining to equipment is attended to. Bustle and ex- 
citement are avoided. The advance party picks and 
breaks the trail, and, what is of great importance, builds 



50 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Feb. 

a snow house which is occupied by every succeeding 
division, thus saving time and labor. 

Green and Ah-pellah got away on February 7ch,. with 
their two divisions — seven sledges — with orders to take 
on full loads of 500 pounds each at Ka-mowitz, fifteen 
miles north of Etah, cross Smith Sound, and proceed 
on toward the musk-ox grounds of Eureka Sound in 
EUesmere Land. Here we were to rendezvous, elimi- 
nate and send back the least desirable men and dogs, 
and then push on toward the Polar Sea. 

The departure of the advance party was signaled the 
night before by an explosion in an Eskimo igloo. Why 
it was not attended by more serious results is hard to 
understand. Both our kerosene and gasolene were 
packed in five-gallon tins, two tins in a case, plainly 
marked, and well understood by our Eskimos. Tau- 
ching-wa, groping in the dark in search of kerosene-oil, 
seized by mistake five gallons of gasolene. With his 
big igloo full of Eskimos, he cut a good-sized hole in the 
top of the can with his knife and then proceeded to fill 
a large burning oil-heater! WTien what happened was 
over, our Eskimo neighbors were considerably bunched 
in various nooks and corners of their primitive home. 
The various parts of the stove were never assembled; 
nor, in fact, of Tau-ching-wa, since much of his hair 
was gone and practically all the skin from his face. 
Henceforth, that particular brand of oil, which was a 
bit "too quick," was designated as the ^'^Tau-ching-wa 
ook-sook" ("Tau-ching-wa oil"). 

On the 8th Tanquary left with his division. A beau- 
tiful day, seventeen below zero, and no wind. He was 
followed by Ekblaw and his Eskimos on the 9th, and 
Hunt and his division on the 10th. With the latter 



1914] IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 51 

went badly scorched Tau-ching-wa, looking like a very 
demon and wearing a hideous-looking cloth mask, be- 
neath which I knew there was a grin in spite of the 
forthcoming sixty below zero and the hardships of the 
trail. 

Stretching out before me to the westward there were 
now nineteen men and fifteen sledges drawn by 165 
dogs, headed toward that great unknown sector of the 
Polar Sea, consisting of half a million square miles. 
The distance from Etah to the edge of this white spot 
by air line is 483 statute miles. 

A war of wind and drifting snow on the 11th pre- 
cluded all thought of my division leaving. Excellent 
weather on the 12th saw Pee-a-wah-to, Peary's able 
assistant, Mene, the Eskimo boy who was brought to 
New York in 1896, and myself galloping away with 
empty sledges to join the main party far in advance. 
At Sunrise Point we found the ice-foot, our highway 
northward, overflowed by an exceptionally high tide, 
which, upon the ebb, would result in a wet, salty sur- 
face, injurious to the feet of our dogs, and a freezing of 
our traces into iron rods. I concluded, therefore, that 
the next day, although it was Friday, the 13th, would 
be far preferable for the beginning of our long journey. 
With a good start, good going, and dogs in fine condi- 
tion, we made Ka-mowitz the next day in three hours. 
Here at our first camp the thermometer registered forty- 
eight below zero, Fahrenheit. We found that all sup- 
plies had been moved across the Sound by the advance 
sledges, enabling us the next day to run across, with 
very light loads, in six hours to Payer Harbor at Cape 
Sabine. 

Proclaimed to the world in 1850 by Commander E. A. 



52 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Feb. 

Inflefield, R.N., the first explorer to enter the portals 
of Smith Sound, this cape has played a large part in 
Arctic history, witnessing the passing of the ships of 
three nations in their endeavors to penetrate into the 
unknown and plant their country's flag at "Farthest 
North." As we groped with numbed fingers in the 
gathering darkness amid the rocks, seeking a shelter 
for the dogs, my mind was filled with incidents of the 
past connected with this inhospitable place. We readily 
found Peary's old hut, headquarters of his 1900 North 
Polar Expedition. Dark, damp, and dirty ; no floors, 
no windows, no ceiling; a cracked stove, a more than 
cracked stovepipe; and a non-closing door — it was not 
a bit inviting for a night's rest! 

We were glad to get out in the morning on the smooth 
ice of Rice Strait, which separates Bedford Pim Island 
from the mainland. The cutting wind, which seems to 
be ever rushing through this pass, compelled us to lie 
low on our sledges with faces buried in the furs to pre- 
vent frost-bite. In a few hours we reached the big 
cache at Cape Rutherford, at the entrance to Buchanan 
Bay, where we loaded our sledges to the limit. It was 
now push, pull, and yell at the dogs as they plodded 
through rough ice and deep snow for a mile or two 
before taking the ice-foot, where we found excellent 
going. Pemmican-tins, stained snow, and hitching- 
holes for the dogs betrayed where the advance divisions 
had slept on their sledges, finding no snow suitable for 
igloos. It looked like spending a night out of doors 
at fifty below, not an inviting prospect when one is 
covered with sweat. We shivered in the lee of our loads, 
pounded our toes, and impatiently watched our blue- 
flame stove as it struggled to convert ice into boiling 




UP THE FACE OF THE BEITSTADT GLACIER 

We perspired freely at — 50° Fahrenheit. 



1914] IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 53 

tea. Fortified with this beverage, along with pemmi- 
can and biscuit, we were soon asleep with our backs 
against the sledges. 

As we were crossing Alexandra Fiord we received our 
first premonition of trouble. We passed two dead dogs 
on the trail, far too early in our undertaking for such 
an occurrence. A few hours later, in a jog in the ice- 
foot, we came upon two boxes of biscuit, a pair of snow- 
shoes, and a note from Doctor Hunt stating that he had 
slept there three nights with a sick Eskimo and was 
leaving that morning. There was still no snow for a 
snow house, so we endeavored to heat up a few cubic 
feet of air-space by building a fire out of our biscuit- 
boxes. Placing our sleeping-bags on the snow near the 
fire, we crawled in for what we thought would be a 
good night's sleep. A few hours later I awoke choking 
for breath, and discovered, to my astonishment, that 
my bag and sheepskin shirt were blazing merrily. I 
was warm at last! 

A few hours' traveling in the morning brought us in 
sight of the doctor and his Eskimo, whose face was 
badly swollen with the mumps. Although he was unable 
to walk, he was game and wanted to go on. As this 
Eskimo was one of my best men, I relieved him of a 
large part of his load and ordered him to stick to the 
sledge until he felt better. Within an hour we came up 
with the whole party encamped in snow igloos in the 
middle of Hayes Sound. Some had influenza, some 
had the mumps, and some had cold feet literally and 
figuratively; nearly all refused to go on, stating that the 
dogs were weak, unable to pull an ordinary load, and 
would probably all die on the big glacier of Ellesmere 
Land, over which we had to cross in order to reach the 



54 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mae. 

head of Bay Fiord, seventy-five miles to the west. All 
the Eskimos strongly advised returning to Etah, feeding 
up the dogs on walrus meat, and trying it again later. 

Fortunately it was so early in the year that we could 
do this without endangering the success of the expedi- 
tion. I decided to retreat to Etah and there eliminate 
the sick, the chicken-hearted, and the older and, conse- 
quently, the more influential Eskimos, who were ap- 
parently very much concerned over the fact that their 
dogs might die and thus compel them to walk a few 
hundred miles. In a discussion of this nature the 
younger men of the party always listen respectfully to 
the opinion of their elders and do as they advise. Young 
Eskimos for a long and dangerous trip are much to be 
preferred, as they are fond of adventure and willing 
to take a chance, while the older men wish to make 
certain of getting home. 

I placed the sick in charge of Hunt and Green, with 
orders to stand by them until they were able to travel, 
and we started back the next day with light sledges, 
leaving our supplies and equipment in cache in Hayes 
Sound. The dogs of my division were in fine fettle, 
and covered the ninety miles in two marches, making 
Etah on the second day. From the sixteen Eskimos I 
picked out seven who appeared to me to be of the right 
stuff and who, I thought, would go the limit. 

From the four members of the expedition who were 
physically fitted for field-work I selected two, Ekblaw 
and Green; the former for his knowledge of geology and 
botany, both valuable assets in the discovery of new 
land; and the latter for his knowledge of practical 
astronomy, in which subject all Annapolis graduates 
are exceedingly well trained. I felt that our observa- 



1914] IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 55 

tions for longitude, latitude, and azimuth could not be 
in error with such a valuable assistant. These two men 
were immediately supplied with dog-teams, and prepara- 
tions were made for a second attempt. 

Walrus meat is without question the very best of 
food upon which to condition a Smith Sound dog. Our 
Eskimos were sent to Peteravik, the site of the annual 
spring encampment of the natives, with orders to kill 
walrus and trade for as much meat as possible. It was 
very hard to be patient as I watched those precious days 
passing away one by one; days which were added to the 
other end of our journey — the doubtful end because of 
uncertain ice conditions in Smith Sound. The dogs were 
getting stronger, however, and would, I felt sure, make 
up during the warmer months for time lost now. 

On March 10th four heavily loaded teams sped out 
of Etah with instructions to the drivers to proceed to 
Cape Sabine, encamp, thaw out the frozen walrus meat 
on their sledges, cut it up, and have all ready for our 
arrival the following day. Although the 11th was not 
favorable for traveling — a gale from the north, with 
drifting snow and the thermometer at thirty-one below 
zero — we felt that not a day should be lost, as it was now 
late in the year for a 1,200-mile trip, 300 miles of which 
were over the ice of the Polar Sea, which would soon be 
breaking up. That night frost-bitten cheeks attested 
to the severity of the weather. Another run across the 
Sound in six hours brought us to the hut at Payer Har- 
bor, where the Eskimos greeted us with the cry, "We 
have killed a bear!" This was good news, not so much 
because we needed the meat, but for the spirit of good- 
fellowship which always follows a killing when on the 
trail. 



56 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mab. 

In two marches we were at the big cache at the en- 
trance to Hayes Sound, where we found everything as 
we had left it some weeks before. We were now ready 
for the crossing of Ellesmere Land. The regular pass 
is at the head of Flagler Bay, where, as shown by the 
tent sites, the Innuits (Eskimos) have crossed for cen- 
turies. But my Eskimos advised crossing the glacier 
at the head of Beitstadt Fiord. I was easily persuaded 
to adopt this plan, as I knew very well the experiences 
of Sverdrup in the Flagler Pass in 1899. If he were 
ever called upon to repeat that trip, I know that he 
would fit his sledges with wheels! Boulders and wind- 
swept stretches of bare ground are daily entries in his 
journal. 

We proceeded with very heavy sledges southwest 
into Hayes Sound and camped at the mouth of Beit- 
stadt Fiord. Noon on the following day found us look- 
ing up at an almost vertical wall of ice, the front of the 
Beitstadt Glacier, which stretches across Ellesmere Land 
from sea to sea, a distance of more than fifty miles. 
How we were ever to get up there I did not know. 
Pee-a-wah-to and Kai-o-ta walked along the base of 
the glacier, laughing and joking, but at the same time 
critically examining every square foot of it. In the 
same leisurely manner they began cutting into the face 
of it with their hatchets to secure a good grip for the 
hands and a good step for the feet; then up they went 
until they stood on the crest, some fifty feet above the 
ground. It was now getting dark. We burrowed for 
shelter into the base of a large snowbank at the foot of 
the glacier, and were soon resting for the strenuous work 
of the morrow. 

All the next day we were busy carrying our supplies 



1914] IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 57 

and equipment far back on the slope of the ice. E-took- 
a-shoo, who simply loved hard work, put a tump-line 
on his 125 -pound sledge and started up the ice steps. 
I said to myself, "He will never get there." But he 
did, smiling and sweating. Two of the other men at- 
tempted the same feat, one failing and one succeeding. 
At dusk we had transferred over 4,000 pounds to the sur- 
face of the ice, ready for loading the next day. That 
night the Eskimos gathered around Pee-a-wah-to, the 
only man who had gone over the glacier, to learn what 
it was like, how far it was, if there were any more such 
hard work, and if we could get back before the Sound 
broke up in the spring. The next morning Mene Wal- 
lace, the New York Eskimo, decided that hard work 
did not agree with him and that he wanted to go home. 
I knew that my Eskimos would all be the happier for 
his going, and so I did not try to dissuade him. As he 
rounded the point, about an hour later, Ekblaw de- 
tected two sledges instead of one, and yelled to me, 
"Did you know that Tau-ching-wa had gone, too.?" At 
first I could not believe it, and thought he was upon 
the glacier. A hurried search failed to find him. I 
learned the reason for his hasty departure that night 
when supper was ended and gossip and tobacco smoke 
were equally thick. Tau-ching-wa had a pretty wife. 
Mene certainly thought so; therefore he decided to 
return to Etah, where he might enjoy her company. 
Tau-ching-wa, unsuspecting, would go on with me and be 
absent for several weeks. After Mene had gone, one 
of the boys whispered into Tau-ching-wa's ear; as a con- 
sequence, I lost Tau-ching-wa. He didn't bother to 
climb the glacier and state his reasons for going. His 
wife was at stake, and off he went. 



58 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mab. 

The witlidrawal of these two men with their sixteen 
dogs reduced the total amount of food which could be 
transported over the glacier to a dangerous limit. The 
success of the trip now depended upon our finding game 
on the other side. Our loads were now so heavy, and 
the gradient so steep and slippery, that it was only by 
the very hardest kind of effort and free use of the 
whip that the dogs could be induced to move at all. 
The slope was more gentle and the going much better 
after we had surmounted the first ice, and we were able 
to reach the summit in a little over two days. Here 
we built two snow igloos at an altitude of 4,750 feet, 
with the temperature at fifty below zero. Although 
the snow was hard and wind-swept, showing the preva- 
lence of violent winds here in the mountains, we were 
fortunate in having absolutely calm weather. Green 
informed me in the evening that Ekblaw had frozen 
his feet and asked me to look at them. I found the 
ball of one foot badly blistered and the big toe swollen 
and waxy in appearance. Naturally Ekblaw was wor- 
ried, for the Eskimos had told him that it was just like 
"Peary-akswah's" foot some years ago, when he lost 
all his toes. I hated to lose such a good man, and de- 
cided to hold on to him as long as I could, not consider- 
ing his frost-bite nearly so serious as the natives would 
have us think. They are mortally afraid of having their 
feet frost-bitten, nursing them as tenderly as a mother 
would her youngest child. I have seen tough old Oo- 
tah, mounted on top of his load, with boot off, at sixty 
below zero, holding his toes in his warm hand and with 
a worried look on his face. Frozen cheeks, nose, or 
ears are of little concern; one can still go on, but when 
a man's feet are frozen he is through. 



1914] IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 59 

We felt, as we packed our sledges on the morning of 
the 20th, that our troubles were over. The crest of the 
glacier was but a few miles beyond. In a few hours 
we commanded a good view of this western land, with 
its towering snow-capped peaks, its deep valleys and 
winding glaciers, and far to the west, dimly outlined in 
the haze, we could make out the smooth ice of Eureka 
Sound. Our glacier led straight on into the west down 
through a magnificent range of hills into which no man 
had ever penetrated. Reluctantly we left this long, 
white path for a valley leading to the northwest and 
more in line with our course to the Polar Sea. 

Our Eskimos were determined to make Bay Fiord in 
one march, so we toiled on for sixteen hours, first down 
into what appeared to be the old bed of a lake, and 
then making the mistake of turning to the right instead 
of to the left, which led us along the sloping side of a 
glacier through deep snow, concealing crevasses into 
which our dogs fell repeatedly, warning us against a 
similar fate. We reached the face of the glacier, tired 
and hungry, but although we searched long and earnest- 
ly, we failed to find any part of it which would permit 
a descent without risk of life. Finally, Pee-a-wah-to 
returned with the encouraging news that he had dis- 
covered an old river-bed through which we might pos- 
sibly lower everything with ropes. 

At daylight we inspected the ravine in the ice, cut 
by running water during the spring. Fortunately its 
bottom was covered with about a foot of compact snow 
which enabled us to keep our footing while working 
with the dogs, sledges, and ropes. A long strong rope 
made from the heavy skin of the thong seal {Erignathus 
harbatus) was fastened to an eye cut in the solid blue 



60 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mar. 

ice. We lowered everything carefully to the surface 
of the sea ice without mishap. One sledge, however, ran 
amuck and buried its short rounded nose deep into the 
debris below the face of the glacier. But it was not 
seriously injured. 

After we had traveled a few miles down the fiord we 
found the snow trampled and crisscrossed in all direc- 
tions by the tracks of musk-oxen. We were all now on 
the alert, the dogs with heads up, sniffing the air, run- 
ning their noses deep into the footprints in the snow, 
the men scanning the slope of every hill. In a few 
minutes we reached a point which commanded a view 
of the whole fiord, and here Pee-a-wah-to thought it 
best to camp, assuring us that we would certainly find 
musk-oxen within a few hours. 

In the morning the first man out of the igloo yelled: 
"Oo-ming-much-suitn ("Musk-oxen!"). There they 
were! five black dots on a sloping white hillside and 
strikingly resembling five black rocks. A strange 
anomaly! A black animal in the white North and yet 
wonderfully protected by its color! This similarity to 
boulders is heightened considerably by the presence of 
the whitish spot on the back. The musk-ox grazes in 
wind-swept areas which consist of bare ground, patches 
of snow, and boulders, and the tops of the latter may 
be lightly sprinkled with snow. We have often halted 
our dogs and scrutinized with powerful binoculars the 
dark spots on such a field, unable to discriminate be- 
tween boulders and musk-oxen, motion being the only 
deciding factor. 

As these rocks slowly changed their relative positions, 
we were compelled to admit that they must be alive. 
Arklio and Pee-a-wah-to immediately doubled up their 



1914] IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 61 

dogs for speed, hitching them to one sledge, and grabbed 
their rifles. The other Eskimos at once set off in dif- 
ferent directions to scour the hills. The team made its 
way leisurely across the fiord; they had not yet sighted 
or smelled the animals. As I watched through the field- 
glasses, one musk-ox started directly up the almost 
vertical slope, immediately followed by the four others 
and two more which we had not seen. It was hard 
to believe that the black line behind them, going with 
such incredible speed, could be our dogs pulling some six 
hundred pounds. They were now a band of wolves with 
fresh meat in sight, and nothing could stop them; sand, 
rocks, boulders, and snow seemed to be taken without 
effort. A wild ride behind a good fast team of dogs in 
pursuit of a bear or a musk-ox is one of the joys of this 
world, and certainly compensates for much of the dis- 
comfort of Arctic work. As the dogs stopped at the 
foot of the talus, we could see the three men slowly 
making their way up the slope to get within rifle range. 
Before the report of the first shot reached our ears, we 
saw a black object rolling rapidly down the hill, indicating 
that the slaughter had begun. Knowing that one sledge 
could not possibly bring all the meat to camp. Green 
and I harnessed up our dogs and ran over to where we 
found the two Eskimos busily skinning and cutting up 
the seven musk-ox they had killed. 

Plenty of meat now for dogs and men put every one 
in good spirits, enabling us to save our pemmican for 
the Polar Sea. I had repeatedly been assured by the 
Eskimos that it would be possible to subsist upon the 
country from the head of Bay Fiord to Cape Thomas 
Hubbard. This optimistic view of things I could not 
accept; therefore I planned to use pemmican for half the 



62 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mar. 

distance, hoping to secure game enough for the other 
half. As I viewed the large pile of red meat around our 
igloos, I felt that we had certainly made a good start. 

Now that our loads were safely across Ellesmere Land, 
my supporting party was no longer needed; I could dis- 
pense with at least two of the sledges. In the morning 
Ekblaw and Kai-o-ta started back for Etah. With them 
went Green, Noo-ka-ping-wa, and Arklio, with orders to 
load up at the big cache in Hayes Sound with oil and 
pemmican and rejoin me at Cape Thomas Hubbard. In 
the mean time I was to go on slowly, laying in caches of 
meat on the trail for use during our return trip. 

As we swung across to the north side of Bay Fiord 
on the 25th, two large white wolves loped along behind 
us just out of range, finally disappearing in the rough 
ice in the middle of the Sound. At the end of this 
march I feared that the Eskimos were altogether too 
optimistic when they declared that we could live on the 
country. Two days now, and not a sign of a musk-ox. 
Reluctantly I told the boys to feed a pound of pemmi- 
can tq each dog. Although they had not been fed for 
two days, they had quietly lain down and gone to sleep, 
as was their custom when hitched to the ice-foot; not 
a whine or a bark or a look in our direction indicated 
that they were hungry. Wliat keeps an Eskimo dog 
alive and going for days and days and days I do not 
know. I have been informed by the Eskimos that they 
have known dogs to travel eight and ten days without 
food. Such a period of fasting is a common occurrence 
every fall when on the annual caribou-hunt south of the 
Humboldt Glacier and when hunting bears south of 
Cape Isabella. 

The deep snows on the northern side of Bay Fiord, 



1914] IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 63 

which ran east and west, were an indication of strong 
northerly prevailing winds out in Eureka Sound, toward 
which we were headed and which extended across our 
course at right angles. Once out from under the lee of 
the high hills and facing the wind, we should find the 
ice swept clean of snow. 

The next morning we continued on through heavy 
going until the dogs began to smell seal-holes, and then 
there was a rush from hole to hole along the ice-foot. 
The huge footprints of a polar bear and a bloody track 
through the snow were evidence that the "tiger of the 
North" had succeeded in capturing a seal. The dogs 
were now fairly excited, dashing along with heads and 
tails up, whining and yelping. In a few minutes a white 
wolf, so large that we all thought it was a bear, bounded 
out of the ice-foot and took to the side-hill, every twenty 
yards or so stopping to look us over carefully, wondering 
what kind of strange animals we were. The sledges 
fairly leaped through the rough ice of the tidal crack, 
but came to a sudden stop in the grit a short distance 
from the shore. Pee-a-wah-to seized his rifle, ran to 
the crest of a little knoll, dropped to one knee, and 
fired. I have never seen a better shot. The animal at 
the time was going at full speed away from him at a 
distance of about one hundred yards. The bullet passed 
completely up through his body, turned him over, and 
left him a crumpled mass without a quiver. I examined 
this first white woK with interest. He was larger than 
the Eskimo dog, which is supposed to be his descendant, 
although not so thick-set. We removed the skin as a 
specimen for the American Museum. The dogs sniffed 
at the red flesh for some time, but finally walked away, 
recognizing their near relative from the smell. 



64 FOUR YEARS IN THE ^HITE NORTH [Mab. 

The bear tracks continued up the Sound, and the dogs 
were again hot on the trail. Astride the sledges, with 
rifles across our legs, we closely scanned every hummock 
of ice, every crack and crevice. At last, disappointed, 
we were forced to give it up, and pulled in toward the 
ice-foot to find suitable snow for an igloo. The dogs 
had worked long and well. I could not refuse them; 
they would have their pound of pemmican, anyway. As 
we sat there on our sledges, too lazy or too tired to begin 
cutting snow blocks for a house, Pee-a-wah-to, whose little 
black eyes were ever roaming over the hills, uttered an 
exclamation of surprise, followed by a long, deep " Tak- 
koo!" ("Look!"), There, right above our heads, sound 
asleep, were three woolly bodies. Our musk-oxen had 
come into our camp and were patiently waiting for us. 
The two Eskimo boys fairly beamed, repeating over and 
over again: "Well, well! Right alongside of us!" 
White men would have gone up at once and made sure 
of their game; not so with E-took-a-shoo and Pee-a- 
wah-to. As if they had all the time in the world and 
meat were of no value, they deliberately harnessed their 
dogs, just as deliberately lit their pipes, laughed, joked, 
and talked of things a hundred miles away. You can 
imagine how constantly I kept my eye on those three 
black balls which meant so much to me, although only 
meat to them. With food we could do anything and 
everything; without it we would be compelled to go 
home, and home did not have any attractions for me 
just then. 

Finally, the snow blocks were cut, the house built, 
furs inside, and the stove humming, and off they started, 
leading one dog only — the one which they could best 
afford to lose, for musk-ox horns are sharp and inflict 




E-TOOK-A-bilUU 



NOO-KA-PING-WA 




AK-POOD-A-SHAH-O 



FOUR OF OUR FAITHFUL NATIVES WHO DESERVE THE CREDIT FOR OUR TEN 
THOUSAND MILES OF SLEDGE-WORK 



1914] IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 65 

ugly wounds. Skirting the hill, they came upon the 
animals from the rear, thus cutting off their retreat. 
At the first report of the rifles three musk-oxen were out- 
lined against the sky, then four, then five! There was 
no escape. I knew they were ours. 

The next morning we drove our dogs to the base of 
the cliff over which the Eskimos had rolled the bodies, 
and there we had the comforting satisfaction of seeing 
the dogs eat to repletion. , Half the day was consumed 
in skinning and cutting up these five animals and sledg- 
ing the meat down to the igloo; therefore we decided 
to spend the rest of it in drying our boots, skeepskin 
stockings, and sleeping-bags. 

The following is an extract from my diary: 

Saturday, March 28th. Eighteenth day. — L perfect day and per- 
fect going enabled us to cover at least twenty -five miles. The whole 
Sound has been so swept by strong northerly winds that the smooth 
surface of the new ice is covered with an inch layer of hard snow. 
Pee-a-wah-to's old rat-tail dogs can smell a seal a mile away; they 
have kept us on the jump all day. About five miles below here, 
while resting our dogs, we shot eleven hare, giving three to each 
team and keeping two for our supper. 

Sunday, March 29th. Nineteenth day. — We are in 80° north lati- 
tude to-night, having covered a whole degree in two days. Perfect 
sledging all day long, continuing just as far as we can see. Another 
large white wolf is added to our game list to-day. We were follow- 
ing the tracks of a large bear when he jumped out of the ice-foot. 
These wolves are so large that we were again deceived, judging it to 
be a bear. My dogs leaped ahead at the sound of Pee-a-wah-to's 
rifle, arriving in time to see the wolf take to the ice and start for 
the middle of the Sound, covered with blood. Crawling out to the 
front of the sledge, I slipped the knot which held the whole team, 
and away they went at full speed, but before they reached him Pee-a- 
wah-to fired again, dropping him dead. 

On the way across to Blaamanden to-day a blue fox crossed in 
front of our teams. Had the fox been going our way we should 
have made a record march, but as it was he had our ill-will for 
some hours afterward. To stop or control Eskimo dogs with the 



66 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mab. 

tail of a blue fox waving in their faces would be like stopping the 
world from going around. The komatiks (sledges) fairly leaped 
through space. Such a sudden and unexpected rush caught us all 
unawares; pipes, tobacco, matches, pieces of frozen meat — every- 
thing not tied on was left lying along the trail. The fox trotted 
along slowly at first, now and then looking back over his shoulder, 
as if saying to himself, "I wonder if they are really after me.''" As 
the dogs approached, he quickened his pace a bit as if to tease them; 
then, to show them that he could run, he turned into a bounding 
black ball which quickly faded away to a tiny speck in the dis- 
tance. The dogs slowed down, looked foolish, then turned their 
heads to us as if to ask, "What was that.^" It is said that these 
foxes can catch Arctic hares. If so, that one will live for a long 
time yet! 



From the Fosheim Peninsula we headed across Eureka 
Sound for Skraelingodden on the morning of the 30th. 
A heavy mist hanging low over the fiord, in combination 
with a light northeast wind, gave us warning of an 
approaching storm. This point marked the end of our 
good sledging and good weather. As we rounded 
Skraelingodden our hitherto light wind freshened to a 
strong breeze; at forty below zero it seemed to go 
right through us. However, plodding through ankle- 
deep snow all the way to Schei's Island, and running 
ahead of the dogs to increase our speed, soon warmed 
us up. It was drifting and blowing so hard as we 
approached the island that we could scarcely make out 
its outline. Unable to find snow suitable for building 
an igloo, we continued on toward the south, looking 
for shelter. After traveling a short distance, we dis- 
covered that there was land on both sides of us; we 
had either entered an inlet and were in a cul-de-sac or 
there were low-lying islands off the southern point of 
the island which the map of Sverdrup did not show. 
The shelving shore to the north offered no shelter what- 



1914] IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 67 

ever, and shelter we must have. Our clothes were 
driven completely full of snow. 

At last, to our relief, E-took-a-shoo prodded with his 
whip-stock down into the snow and announced it suit- 
able for building purposes. Our igloo up, the next 
thought was for our dogs, which were now nearly buried 
in the white drift. A lee was lacking in this wind-swept 
area; therefore we constructed a semicircular wind- 
break from snow blocks, and the tired dogs huddled 
close up to it and were soon sound asleep. We pounded 
the snow out of our bearskin pants and out of our sheep- 
skin coats with the snow-beater as well as we could 
under the circumstances. Once inside of an igloo, the 
door tightly closed with a snow block and the stove 
humming, there is a feeling of perfect contentment 
which comes to a man after a long day's march. We 
decided to remain here for a few days. Our dogs must 
have fresh meat, and the dogs of our supporting party, 
which was doing its best to catch us, were depending 
upon it. 

At noon the next day there was every promise of 
clear weather. The boys harnessed their dogs and were 
off to the westward to look for a passage through the 
island and for musk-ox tracks. At midnight they were 
back. Sure of their success, I yelled out through the 
peep-hole in the front of the igloo, "How many.''" 
" Ah-meg-you-loch-suit!'^ was the immediate reply — "a 
great many." But how many I did not know until 
E-took-a-shoo, who could not count more than twenty, 
indicated by holding up his fingers that they had killed 
thirty-five! Like savages they had slaughtered the 
whole herd for the pure love of killing, although they 
knew that we could not possibly use so many. 



68 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [April 

On their sledges were the quarters of a musk-ox for 
nay dogs, who were now sitting up and wondering what 
had happened. Their old friends in the other teams 
could hardly be recognized; they were so distended 
that they could barely get into camp. In through the 
door of the igloo came hearts, tongues, livers, and juicy 
tenderloins. What a feast! 

I thought we had better move while we could. I 
ordered the men to pack up their sledges and drive over 
to the battle-field. After we had gone a short distance, 
a yell from Pee-a-wah-to turned our attention toward 
the south. Could we believe our eyes.^^ It was like 
a picture from one of the old books on travel in Siberia. 
Twelve white wolves were leaping over the snow directly 
at us. Fiction would have us now fighting for our lives, 
knives between teeth and rifles constantly going. On 
the contrary, we prayed that they would not stop, but 
keep coming on. Undoubtedly they would have done 
so had we been able to control our dogs, who were now 
wild with excitement, whining, yelping, and straining 
on the traces. We shouted and threatened, and lashed 
with the whip, at the same time holding back with all 
our strength on the upstanders of the sledge. The 
leader of the band stopped, surveyed us critically for 
an instant, and wheeled around, followed by the others. 
By the time that we could tear the covers from the rifles 
they were out of range. 

I have no compunction whatever in shooting at these 
sneaking cowards of the animal world. Axel Heiberg 
Land is infested with them, their tracks being found 
intermingling with those of the musk-ox and white 
caribou. A mother and her young are surrounded, wor- 
ried to death, and torn into pieces. During Sverdrup's 




CONSTRUCTING A SNOW HOUSE 
In about one hour our home for the night, consisting of some fifty blocks, will be ready for occupancy. 




Vi-Si 









"^.^ ' .' 




t 4<. 



n^ 



OUR CAMP AT CAPE ISABELLA, MAY, 1917 

Note our fur coats on top of igloo out of reach of stray dogs. 



1914] IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 69 

expedition the wolves came into camp, attacked and 
killed some of the dogs, and later, on the trail, even 
attacked one of the men who had no other weapon 
to defend himseK with than a ski. No animal in the 
North is so enduring, none has such a wide range, and 
none passes an easier existence than the Arctic wolf. 
Their food is musk-oxen, caribou, Arctic hare, lemmings, 
and possibly foxes. There is also every evidence to be- 
lieve that wolves prey upon seals along the ice-foot. 

Proceeding for about half an hour, we reached a well- 
sheltered spot with southern exposure near the slain 
musk-oxen. Here the two boys constructed a beautiful 
igloo, with high-bed platform, gently sloping walls, and 
an almost flat roof, the sixty blocks interlocking in a 
rather artistic design. It is a pleasure to see an Eskimo 
cut and handle snow. One cannot but admire the skill 
and dexterity with which he cuts it on the surface, 
breaks it out with his toe, lays it up on the wall, bevels 
the edges, and thumps it into place with his hand. I 
wonder if there are any other people in the world who 
attempt to build an arch or dome without support. 
Starting from the ground in a spiral from right to left, 
the blocks mount higher and higher, ever assuming a 
more horizontal position, until the last two or three 
appear to hang in the air, the last block locking the 
whole structure. This work can be done by two good 
men in about an hour. 

Entering a newly constructed igloo seems like a 
vision of fairy-land, the light filtering through the snow 
a beautiful ethereal blue; everything — the bed, the two 
side platforms, the wall — absolutely spotless. At low 
temperatures such a retreat is so far superior to a tent 
as to cause one to regret exceedingly that the brave 



70 FOUK YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Apeil 

fellows of old, who struggled over frozen tents with 
frozen fingers, could not have availed themselves of the 
services of these architects of the North. During a 
gale, the incessant banging and slatting of the walls of 
a tent precludes all conversation and interferes seriously 
with much-needed rest. If snow is drifting, the sides 
collapse under the accumulated weight to such a de- 
gree that it is hardly possible for one man to sit upright 
in the center of the tent, and the remainder of the 
party are compelled to lie in their bags. Once in a 
snow house, with the door closed, it is as still as death, 
snow being an excellent non-conductor, while drifting 
snows without only add to the warmth and security. 

Our four days at Schei's Island stand out as one of 
the bright spots of our trip — a large, well-warmed, and 
well-lighted igloo, plenty of food, and a wealth of fresh 
meat for the dogs. Two Eskimo lamps, made of oil- 
tins, canvas, and musk-ox fat, burned night and day, 
drying mittens, boots, and stockings. During low tem- 
peratures too much care cannot be exercised in keeping 
one's clothes dry. Experience is the great teacher; 
and he who follows its precepts will return with fingers 
and toes. How we suffered on that Peary trip! More 
in one month than I did the last four years of Arctic 
work ! Reason — inexperience. 

For the man in furs there is one maxim which must 
be rigidly adhered to, anomalous as it may seem: Do 
not permit the body to be overheated at fifty, sixty, or 
seventy below zero. It is heat that kills in the Arctic, 
not cold. My most miserable hours in the far North 
have been not when encountering low temperatures or 
facing a cutting drift, but in the shelter of a tight snow 
house after the day's work was ended, when with 



19141 IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 71 

shivering body and chattering teeth I attempted sleep 
with underclothes reeking wet from perspiration. 

And a second maxim: Use the snow-beater vigorously 
and thoroughly. If driven snow is permitted to remain 
in the fur that snow will melt. Result — a heavy, wet, 
and then a frozen garment. 

Leaving instructions in this igloo for Green to feed 
his dogs, hold to his loads, and come on as quickly as 
possible, we started on for Hvitberget (White Moun- 
tain). As we swung around the corner of the island, its 
high, white head was the most conspicuous point on the 
northern horizon. We sighted another herd of musk- 
oxen on our right feeding on the frozen grass on the slope 
of a wind-swept hill. I was glad that we were not 
compelled to break into their quiet life. Our dogs were 
now so full that it would be some hours before we could 
speed them up to good work. Heavy going in the lee 
of the island and a strong head wind as we crossed 
the Sound made things a bit unpleasant; however, we 
made the twenty miles in about seven hours. While 
resting the dogs for a moment, both Eskimos rushed 
toward a little knoll, where they engaged in a friendly 
tussle over something on the ground. In answer to my 
inquiry, they yelled back, "Pemmican, eemu tau^ 
("Pemmican and milk"). The pemmican was Ameri- 
can, but the milk was Norwegian. Only two men had 
preceded us along this coast. Dr. Frederick A. Cook in 
1908 and Sverdrup in 1900. We had undoubtedly come 
upon one of Sverdrup's caches which he placed here 
twelve years before; it was still in good condition. As 
there were only two cans of each, I allowed the Eskimos 
to gnaw the pemmican and crack the frozen milk in 
their teeth to their hearts' content. 



72 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [April 

It had now been blowing so long that as we crawled 
into the igloo that night I hoped it would blow itself 
out before morning, for go we must, as there was no 
game here. Breakfast over, a cloud of snow whirled 
up into our faces as we kicked out the snow block form- 
ing the door, causing us to dive into our bags for wind- 
proofs to prevent the snow from driving into our sheep- 
skin shirts. Laying a course by the wind, we headed 
out across the bay into the drift, hoping to strike well 
up the coast. It was only a few miles, but it seemed many 
before we found ourselves among a series of low hills, 
the sledges dragging on gravel. We headed north, fol- 
lowing the interminable windings of the shore, which 
was so low and shelving that time and time again we 
kept our course only by following the tidal crack. It 
cleared up beautifully that night as we were finishing 
the igloo. Hvitberget seemed so near that we were 
quite disappointed in the day's work. 

On April 11th we reached what we thought must be 
Cape Thomas Hubbard. Another furious wind-storm 
compelled us to take refuge in another dugout beneath 
a high, black cliff, and here we were determined to re- 
main until it cleared up, so as to give us our bearings. 
In the morning we were startled by the crunching of 
snow at our entrance — the supporting party had come 
on schedule time. I was mighty glad to see Green and 
his two Eskimo boys. Their sledges contained every- 
thing that I needed to fill out twenty-five full days on 
the Polar Sea. If Crocker Land were only 120 miles 
distant from shore, as Peary thought, and as indicated 
on the latest maps, then we should go out in twelve 
days and back in seven, at the most. Two or three 
days on the new land, together with storms and 



19141 IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 73 

hold-ups, would probably use up the extra six days' 
food. 

The thirty-three days' continuous work, during which 
they had covered 580 miles, an average of seventeen 
and a half miles a day, had told heavily upon the dogs. 
Strong head winds, heavy loads, and insufficient food 
gradually wore them out, ten dropping in harness. I 
was more convinced than ever that the salt in our 
pemmican was responsible for the vomiting, dysentery, 
and apparent weakness among all the dogs when feed- 
ing upon pemmican alone. That it could not be relied 
upon for a long trip on the Polar Sea, where it would 
be impossible to secure fresh meat, was very evident. 
Musk-oxen, caribou, and Arctic hares had saved the 
day thus far. My only plan now was to fill up the dogs 
on whatever meat we could get, musk-ox preferred, 
double feed them with pemmican on the hard marches, 
and do the 120 miles with a rush. 

It had been blowing so long now that I began to 
doubt if good weather ever occurred at this Cape 
Horn of the North. As if to dispel this belief, on the 
morning of the 13th a golden ray of sunshine streamed 
in through our door; a more perfect day was never 
made — not a cloud, not a breath of air. The four 
Eskimos started off at once scouring the hills for game, 
while Green and I planned to reach the top of the high 
hills in the rear of our dugout in search of Peary's record 
and a possible view of Crocker Land far to the northwest. 

As we rounded the first point we descried an Eskimo 
running toward the camp. An accidental discharge of 
a rifle and a wounded or dead Eskimo were my first 
thoughts. We quickened our pace; something had 
surely happened. Yes, indeed — barely a few minutes 



74 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH IApril 

from the dugout and lie had killed four caribou! This 
was certainly luck. If the other Eskimos found them as 
plentiful, our dogs could go on for some time, although 
caribou meat is lamentably lacking in strength and 
stamina-producing properties. 

Going up the valley and ascending the highest ridge, 
we scanned in vain the horizon for a cairn, and con- 
tinued to do so for some eight hours, passing from 
crest to crest. We examined every inch of the hori- 
zon closely with powerful glasses, but failed to discover 
the slightest appearance of land. Tired and disap- 
pointed, we trudged back to camp, arriving late in the 
evening, finding all our hunters in and all reporting no 
success. 

My plans were quickly made. I would send Arklio 
and Noo-ka-ping-wa back to Etah at once, limiting our 
party to four only — E-took-a-shoo, Pee-a-wah-to, En- 
sign Green, and myself — thus economizing on provisions 
and enabling us to remain in the field for a much longer 
period. The two boys, furnished with oil, tea, and bis- 
cuit, by proceeding slowly, could easily depend upon 
the country for meat. 

Upon failing to find Peary's cairn and record, we 
reasoned that Cape Thomas Hubbard must be some 
distance yet along the shore; and so it proved to be, 
for as we swung out from land on to the Polar Sea we 
commanded a good view of the whole coast, easily 
recognizing the Point from a picture in Peary *s Nearest 
the Pole. The giving out and dropping of one of Green's 
dogs on the first day caused me considerable anxiety. 
If they were dropping now, where would they be a 
week later .f^ We lightened their loads at once to try 
to save them, hoping they would gradually gain strength 



1914] IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 75 

and eventually recover. Rest I could not give them so 
late in the year. 

As we headed out toward the northwest over a hard, 
rolling surface of blue ice I felt that our work had really 
begun; the 500 miles behind were but the path leading 
up to our field of work. We were going into the un- 
known, toward that point where land had been put 
down with a question mark, where Doctor Harris said it 
might exist, where well-known geologists declared that it 
couldn't exist, and where Peary claimed that it did exist. 

The end of the first march saw us encamped at the 
base of a small pressure ridge about fourteen miles from 
land. With E-took-a-shoo and Pee-a-wah-to I mounted 
the highest mass of ice to survey the field for the next 
day. Not a word was spoken for some minutes. There 
were several pressure ridges in sight and some rubble 
ice through which we could easily pick our way. The 
Eskimos were plainly thinking, and their thoughts were 
not pleasant ones. With eyes better than mine, they 
were not only seeing the same things which I saw, but 
were seeing something more — open water. When their 
tongues finally began to wag, I caught the familiar 
words: "Much water,'* "The sun is high," "Will not 
freeze," "The ice is moving." As soon as I realized 
that they were worried over this, I remarked that I 
was glad to see the ice so good and that it was much 
better than when we were with Peary on the last trip. 
I slapped E-took-a-shoo on the back, bantered Pee-a- 
wah-to a bit, and ended by telling them to feed two 
cans of pemmican to their dogs instead of one. 

The dark lanes of open water visible ahead and 
those on the horizon, as indicated by a water sky, were 
evidently opened up by the full moon of April 10th. 

6 



•re FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Apbil 

Fortunately, there would not be another full moon 
until May 9th; by that time we should be on land. 
The two great opposing forces which guard the secrets 
of the Polar Sea are pressure ridges and open water, 
the former smashing sledges, wearing out the dogs, 
discouraging the men, and retarding progress; the lat- 
ter decisive and convincing — thus far and no farther. 
Now that the high tides were over, with the thermom- 
eter at twenty below zero, these leads would soon 
freeze. 

In the morning we were through and over the pressure 
ridges in a very short time, our route leading us out 
upon a long, beautiful stretch of smooth ice. We 
hopped on our sledges, snapped the whips, and away 
we went! When on the verge of believing that "Old 
Torngak," the evil spirit of the North, was, as Oo-tah 
said, "either having trouble with his wife or had for- 
gotten us," a lead was thrown across our path about 
one hundred yards wide and extending apparently 
around the world. Ice was forming out from both 
banks, a thin line of black extending down through the 
center. Although a strong southeast wind was blowing, 
as yet there seemed to be no pressure. Clear, cold, calm 
weather is the daily prayer of a man on the Polar Sea. 
We were confident that we could cross in the morning. 

An igloo was constructed and a sounding attempted. 
When 200 fathoms of wire had been unreeled. Green 
remarked that we had found a deep hole. When 500 
had disappeared, I thought he was right. When 1,000 
was reached, we simply looked at each other. A steady 
strain was kept upon the wire, yet not the slightest per- 
ceptible difference could be detected from start to 
finish. Nearly 2,000 fathoms were lowered into that 



1914] IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 77 

hole before we gave it up. We were only seventeen 
miles from land, and there was only one conclusion — 
our weight, which was a five-pound pick, was so light 
that it was being carried off by the current probably flow- 
ing into Nansen Sound. To get that wire and pick back, 
with the thermometer at twenty below zero, was a long 
and tedious job. Attaching a handle to the reel, we 
relieved one another every fifteen minutes. At the 
end of five hours we expected to hear Pee-a-wah-to, 
who had the last relay, call out at any moment, " Ti- 
mah!'* ("Finished!"). Instead of this, he stuck his 
crestfallen face in at the door with the announcement 
that the wire had broken and our pick was gone! 

A series of soundings was so important that this loss 
was a serious one. What could we use for a weight .f* 
Mentally we ran through every article in the equipment. 
Only one pick was left; certainly it would never do to 
use that. Our pemmican hatchets were too small. An 
eight-pound can of pemmican would not sink. One 
bottle of mercury for the artificial horizon — we must 
have that for our observations. No, there was not a 
thing that would serve. To think that my dogs had 
pulled that reel containing 2,000 fathoms of wire and 
weighing about forty pounds, for nearly 500 miles, only 
to have it thrown away without a single sounding! I 
felt as if I were a pall-bearer at a funeral as I carried 
the reel to the top of the highest ridge and left it there. 

The first man who awoke in the morning rushed for 
the peep-hole in the front of the igloo. Yes, the lead 
was frozen; we could cross. Hitching up the dogs, we 
ran along the lead to a section of the ice which we judged 
by its whitish appearance to be the strongest. E-took- 
a-shoo advanced cautiously and tapped it with his whip- 



78 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [April 

stock, saying, "Nah-muck-tor ("All right!"). As I 
watched his little short legs running behind the komatik, 
I was astonished at the flexibility of salt-water ice. It 
yielded like a strip of rubber, one wave seeming to pre- 
cede and another to follow him. I had visions of E-took- 
a-shoo camping alone if he had weakened it in any way 
by passing over it. As Green crossed I said to myself, 
"He will never get there'*; but he did. Two of my dogs 
broke through; a shake of their furry coats, a wag of 
their tails, and they were ready to go on. 

As a reward for crossing this lead, a perfect picture 
presented itself — a long, level stretch of compact snow. 
We easily covered twelve miles in four hours, when we 
were stopped by another lead. Sending Pee-a-wah-to 
west and E-took-a-shoo east to reconnoiter. Green and 
I impatiently awaited their return. Knowing that the 
former was a little discouraged and feeling that I could 
not trust him for an accurate report, I soon followed. 
About one mile west from the sledges the lead ended 
in two branches. Long before I reached this point I 
could hear the crunching of the ice. The opposite sides 
of the first branch were now in contact, offering a bridge 
scarcely wide enough for one sledge to cross; here the 
edges were slowly rising and crumpling with a peculiar 
humming sound. Jumping over this and hurrying 
across an old floe some fifty yards wide, I made a hasty 
examination of the second branch. Spanning this was 
a chaotic mass of rubble jammed so tightly together 
that it ought to bear our weight. There was no time 
to be lost; it might open any minute. Running back 
down the lead I yelled to the boys to come on. The 
first lead was easily taken by means of the narrow 
bridge, but the second presented the hardest ten min- 




STRETCH OF ROUGH ICE ON POLAR SEA 
Such work smashes sledges and wears out men and dogs. 




LAST CAMP ON POLAR SEA 



1914] IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 79 

utes' work of the whole trip — "rough" and "rubble" 
do not half express the character of the surface. 

As before, excellent going followed. With eighteen 
miles to our credit, we finished the day on the banks of 
another narrow lead which froze over during the night. 
At the end of the next day (April 19th) we were in high 
hopes of making our distance. Throughout the day it 
had been a succession of long, level stretches and newly 
frozen leads with clean-cut edges — no pressure ridges 
whatever. The haze on the horizon, which had been a 
constant attendant, was slowly disappearing; no water 
sky could be seen; all the leads were evidently frozen; 
without a doubt we were beyond the pressure area. 
By dead-reckoning we judged that we were about fifty- 
two miles off shore. As this was based upon an esti- 
mate of only three and one-half miles per hour, I was 
quite sure that our regular observations would add 
to the distance covered. 

On the 20th we stretched out for a record, crossing 
nine newly frozen leads, and estimating at the end of 
the day that we had surely covered thirty miles. Two 
of Pee-a-wah-to's dogs dropped and were left on the 
trail, hoping that they might come into camp later. 
One was found lying with the team in the morning; he 
went on for a few days and then dropped for good. 
Pee-a-wah-to's dogs were plainly showing the effect of 
his constant riding on the sledge, for he was no longer 
leading and breaking the trail as he had done in the 
past. Like all other Eskimos, he did not believe in 
walking when he could ride. Green, with good judg- 
ment and excellent driving, still kept his dogs on their 
feet; although one was very weak; the others seemed to 
be getting stronger. He walked nearly every step; in 



80 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [April 

fact, I think lie would rather have dropped himself than 
have his team give out. Our total distance at the end 
of this march was estimated to be seventy-eight miles. 
Looking back toward the southwest, nothing could be 
seen but a small, dark mass which we judged might be 
Cape Colgate, or some higher point in Grant Land. 

April 21st was a beautiful day; all mist was gone and 
the clear blue of the sky extended down to the very 
horizon. Green was no sooner out of the igloo than he 
came running back, calling in through the door, "We 
have it!" Following Green, we ran to the top of the 
highest mound. There could be no doubt about it. 
Great heavens! what a land! Hills, valleys, snow- 
capped peaks extending through at least one hundred 
and twenty degrees of the horizon. I turned to Pee-a- 
wah-to anxiously and asked him toward which point 
we had better lay our course. After critically examin- 
ing the supposed landfall for a few minutes, he as- 
tounded me by replying that he thought it was poo-jok 
(mist). E-took-a-shoo offered no encouragement, say- 
ing, ''Perhaps it is." Green was still convinced that it 
must be land. At any rate, it was worth watching. 
As we proceeded the landscape gradually changed its 
appearance and varied in extent with the swinging 
around of the sun; finally at night it disappeared alto- 
gether. As we drank our hot tea and gnawed the 
pemmican, we did a good deal of thinking. Could Peary 
with all his experience have been mistaken.? Was this 
mirage which had deceived us the very thing which 
had deceived him eight years before? If he did see 
Crocker Land, then it was considerably more than 120 
miles away, for we were now at least 100 miles from 
shore, with nothing in sight. 



1914] IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 81 

Our prayer now was for clear, cold weather and good 
going. It was answered. On the morning of the 22d, 
the thermometer stood at thirty-one below zero; the air 
was clear as crystal. Green got a latitude of 81° 52' and 
a longitude of 103° 32', which agreed almost exactly 
with our dead-reckoning. To increase our latitude we 
set a more northerly course on the 23d and 24th, with 
a variation of 178° westerly. Observations on these two 
days put us ahead of our dead-reckoning in latitude 82° 
30', longitude 108° 22', 150 miles due northwest from 
Cape Thomas Hubbard. We had not only reached the 
brown spot on the map, but we were thirty miles in- 
land! You can imagine how earnestly we scanned 
every foot of that horizon — not a thing in sight, not 
even our almost constant traveling companion, the 
mirage. We were convinced that we were in pursuit 
of a will-o'-the-wisp, ever receding, ever changing, 
ever beckoning. 

In June, 1906, Peary stood on the summit of Cape 
Colgate. His discovery of the new land is announced 
in Nearest the Pole as follows: 

North stretched the well-known ragged surface of the polar pack,, 
and northwest it was with a thrill that my glasses revealed the fain^ 
white summits of a distant land which my Eskimos claimed to have 
seen as we came along from the last camp. 

A few days later he stood on the summit of Cape 
Columbia. Quoting again: 

The clear day greatly favored my work in taking a round of 
angles, and with the glass I could make out apparently a little 
more distinctly the snow-clad summits of the distant land in the 
northwest, above the ice horizon. My heart leaped the interven- 
ing miles of ice as I looked longingly at this land, and in fancy I 



82 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Apeil 

trod its shores and climbed its summits, even though I knew that 
that pleasure could be only for another in another season. 

He left his discovery for younger men to prove or 
disprove; this we had done. If Admiral Peary did see 
land due northwest from Cape Thomas Hubbard, then 
we had moved it at least 200 miles from shore. To see 
land at a distance of 200 miles from where Peary stood, 
the land must reach an altitude of more than 30,000 feet! 
Such an altitude in that latitude and longitude is con- 
trary to all scientific reasoning. The highest peaks of 
Grant Land and Ellesmere Land do not exceed 6,000 
feet, while Axel Heiberg, Amund Ringnes, and EUef 
Ringnes Islands are even considerably lower. 

Food for two days' farther advance remained on our 
sledges. Should we still go on? From our last camp 
onward the character of the ice seemed to have changed 
completely. The leads and small pressure ridges hither- 
to had trended east and west diagonally across our course. 
The fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth marches were over 
a rolling plain of old ice covered with low mounds and 
compacted drift. From the summit of a pressure ridge 
the sea ice now presented a perfect chaos of pressure 
ridges crossing and crisscrossing in all directions. Such 
a condition must result from one of the following causes : 
proximity to land, strong currents, or passage over 
shoal ground. I am inclined to attribute it to the last. 
That we were not near land was evident. That there 
was no current is shown by the fact that a pemmican 
hatchet was lowered by a strong thread to a depth of 
150 fathoms, remaining perfectly plumb throughout the 
whole process. Two days' work through such ice would 
net possibly eight or ten miles, breaking sledges, wear- 
ing out dogs, and reducing supplies to the limit. To 



1914] IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 83 

really test it, on the ninth day we went forward for 
about six miles. The ice was all that it appeared to 
be and worse. 

It was late in the year; we had more than thirty 
leads behind us; a full moon was due on May 9th; we 
had more than covered our distance. To-morrow we 
would go back. 



V 

THE EETUEN FEOM THE POLAR SEA 

"|\yTY dreams of the last four years were merely 
•^ -*■ dreams; my hopes had ended in bitter disap- 
pointment. 

If we were fortunate enough now to be favored with 
good weather, we could double-march back on our 
trail, sleep in the same igloos, and make the land in four 
marches. We turned anxious eyes toward the horizon 
before going in for the night. Blowing from the south- 
west and drifting was the report in the morning. Then 
our day would be a hard one. Could the Eskimos pos- 
sibly pick up the trail.? As we dashed out of camp and 
headed for home, now and then I caught a glimpse of 
the faint traces of the outward-bound sledge tracks. Ar- 
riving on the banks of the first lead, I inquired of E-took- 
a-shoo, who had been leading, if he had kept to the 
trail. To my astonishment, he replied that he had lost 
it a few minutes out from camp, at least three miles in 
the rear. In their characteristic, happy-go-lucky way, 
they had headed across country. Would they have done 
so had they been alone or had we been without a com- 
pass, for which they have great respect .^^ I tried to 
conceal my irritation at this unfortunate occurrence 
at the very start of our retreat. The trail must be found 



1914] THE RETURN FROM THE POLAR SEA 85 

and found at once, as every minute of drift was tending 
to conceal it. Pee-a-wah-to went to the east and 
E-took-a-shoo to the west, closely examining the banks 
of the lead; in thirty minutes they were back, failing 
to find any traces whatever. But it must be found; 
if lost now it was lost forever. Now Pee-a-wah-to went 
west and Green and I east on opposite banks; not the 
faintest indication of a trail anywhere. Again we met 
at the sledges and talked it over. Pee-a-wah-to thought 
it must be far to the east; E-took-a-shoo grinned and 
said he didn't know. Upon my telling them again that 
it must be found or we should go back to camp and 
pick it up there, Pee-a-wah-to started east again and 
E-took-a-shoo toward home. As the latter disappeared 
in the flying snow, I thought to myself: "That's the 
last we shall see of him for some time." Green and I 
kicked our toes and took refuge in a hole in the ice, 
trying to be cheerful. 

In about an hour my dogs jumped to their feet, all 
attention, looking toward the south. Far off in the dis- 
tance, above the sound of wind and drifting snow, came 
a faint yell. It was some minutes before we could de- 
tect the little, short body of E-took-a-shoo dimly out- 
lined through the drift and waving both arms for us 
to come on. We recalled Pee-a-wah-to and were soon 
following our old trail, which reappeared at various 
intervals, but was none too easy to follow; indeed, 
that day's work by those Eskimos in keeping to the 
trail in a blinding snow-storm was nothing short of 
marvelous. With a feeling of relief we saw the black 
hole in the front of No. 7 igloo; we were content with a 
single march under such conditions. 

We were up at 3.15 on the morning of the 26th to 



86 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Apbil 

greet a glorious day for the long march from igloo No. 
7 to No. 5. We stopped at No. 6 for hot tea, biscuit, 
and pemmican, not forgetting the dogs, each of whom 
received one pound of pemmican and two hours' rest. 
On the 27th we marched from igloo No. 5 to No. 4 in 
the same perfect weather and perfect going, all leads 
being frozen. Throughout the day the mirage of the 
sea ice, resembling in every particular an immense 
land, continued to mock us. It seemed so near and so 
easily attainable if we would only turn back. 

Our dogs received two pounds of pemmican a day 
throughout the retreat, which is ordinarily a double 
ration. They were frightfully thin and needed every 
ounce of it. Thus far they were doing remarkably well, 
considering that they were all weak from dysentery, 
some staggering in the traces and not pulling a pound. 
Twice I slipped faithful old Sipsoo, who was slowly 
pulling his heart out, hoping that he would lie down 
and rest, and come on later into camp. As we started 
along without him, he lifted his head, gave me an ap- 
pealing look, as if to say, "Don't you want me any 
longer?" In a few minutes he had trotted by and was 
at his old place in the team, pretending to pull. Now 
staggering, now falling, on he went, struggling to keep 
his place. He was born to pull. I harnessed him into 
the team, and there he remained to the end of the 
trip. 

No. 1 and No. 2 igloo were practically together. We 
were held up by open water, therefore we decided to try 
for the nearest point of land from No. 3, which is Cape 
Thomas Hubbard. WThen we were within a mile of 
land we could see a cairn on the summit of a low, pro- 
jecting point to the southward of us. As Peary was 




PEARY RECORD FOUND WITH FLAG OX PEARY CAIRN ON SUMMIT OF CAPE 

SUTVIMIT OF CAPE THOMAS HUBBARD THOMAS HUBBARD 




PORTION OF AMERICAN FLAG LEFT BY PEARY AT CAPE THOMAS HUBBARD 
AND FOUND BY AUTHOR IN MAY, 1914 



1914] THE RETURN FROM THE POLAR SEA 87 

the only man who had ever been here, we knew it was 
his, described as being on the "low foreshore" beneath 
the cape. Although we had walked now for thirty 
miles, I felt that we must take advantage of the good 
weather by ascending the hill to secure Peary's record. 
No one knows what the morrow will bring in the Arctic. 
I shall remember that walk for some time to come. 
The xAdmiral wanted the man who secured that record 
to work for it, and we did, breaking through a heavy 
crust at every step until we reached the very top. 
There are three summits to the cape, situated at dif- 
ferent heights. The first we passed, expecting the rec- 
ord to be on the second. To our disappointment, there 
was no sign of a cairn. Could it be possible that Peary 
climbed that next high hill after walking from Cape 
Sheridan, a distance of four hundred miles .^^ We pulled 
ourselves together wearily and started down into the 
hollow which divided the two hills. We climbed ever- 
succeeding crests, but, finally, the last was mounted, 
revealing, outlined against the blue sky, a large well- 
built cairn enveloped in a blanket of snow. There was 
a short stick projecting from the top, and at the base 
was a cocoa-tin containing a piece of the American flag 
and the very brief record, "Peary, June 28, 1906." We 
replaced this with a small silk flag and a record, also a 
duplicate of the Peary record. 

We now turned eagerly to an examination of the 
Polar Sea. Peary stood here in June, 1906, and from 
this very spot he saw what resembled land lying to the 
northwest, 120 miles distant. The day was exception- 
ally clear, not a cloud or trace of mist; if land could be 
seen, now was our time. Yes, there it was! It could 
even be seen without a glass, extending from southwest 



88 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [April 

true to north-northeast. Our powerful glasses, how- 
ever, brought out more clearly the dark background in 
contrast with the white, the whole resembling hills, 
valleys, and snow-capped peaks to such a degree that, 
had we not been out on the frozen sea for 150 miles, we 
would have staked our lives upon its reality. Our 
judgment then, as now, is that this was a mirage or 
loom of the sea ice. That there is land west of Axel 
Heiberg Land — not northwest, as some scientists would 
have us believe — I have no doubt. I would limit the 
eastern edge of this land to 120° west longitude, and 
the northern edge to 82° north latitude, for the follow- 
ing reasons: Our eight days' travel out from Cape 
Thomas Hubbard was over ice which had not been 
subjected to great pressure, evidence that it was pro- 
tected by some great body of land to the west against 
the tremendous fields of ice driven on by the Arctic 
current, which has its inception north of Behring Strait 
and Wrangel Land, across the Pole, and down the 
eastern shore of Greenland. At our farthest north, 82°, 
all was suddenly changed. The long, level fields ended 
in a sharp line going east and west; beyond this line 
there was the roughest kind of ice, which had evidently 
been pushed around the northern point of this unknown 
land over shoal ground extending toward the north. 

We were so tired upon arriving at the igloo that we 
decided not to try for the second record on the point 
until morning. Three days' food now remained upon 
our sledges. I decided to send Green and Pee-a-wah-to 
to survey and explore the twenty-five miles of the un- 
known coast-line of Axel Heiberg Land, while E-took-a- 
shoo and I ran to Cape Colgate to secure the farthest- 
north record of Sverdrup. 



1914] THE RETURN FROM THE POLAR SEA 89 

The sky had an ominous appearance in the morning; 
the long-delayed storm was certainly coming. It was 
now blowing and drifting. A two or three days' delay 
here, consuming what little food we did have, would be 
fatal to our plans. We must move, and move at once. 
Telling Green to proceed down the coast two marches 
and back in one, E-took-a-shoo and I headed north for 
the dugout, calling back, "Good-by, Pee-a-wah-to." 
Above the sound of drifting snow I heard his faint reply 
in broken English and saw him turn toward the south. 

In an hour we realized that there were more com- 
fortable places in the world than the northern shore of 
Axel Heiberg Land in a blizzard. Unable to see for 
swirling snow, and at times fighting for breath, we 
groped our way along under the cliffs toward a shelter. 
Was [':. possible for E-took-a-shoo to find the old igloo 
this side of the dugout .^^ Repeatedly the violence of the 
wind was such that our dogs could not move an inch. 
With faces protected from the icy blast by burying them 
in our sleeping-robes on top of the sledges, we slowly 
pushed our way from point to point. Long after I 
thought we had passed the igloo and were well on our 
way to the dugout, a yell from the native announced 
that he had stumbled upon it. 

The roof had fallen and it was full of snow, but it 
was still a home, as any hole would have been under 
such conditions. By vigorous use of feet and hands 
it was soon cleared out, our grass bags were crammed 
into the door opening, the blue-flame was lit, and the 
storm was over as far as we were concerned. 

By morning the roof had fallen so low that it was 
almost resting upon our bodies as we lay on the bed 
platform. Frequent visits to the peep-hole brought 



90 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [May 

forth the same reply from E-took-a-shoo — "Impos- 
sible!" Our food was nearly gone; our dogs had not 
been fed for two days; if there was the slightest chance 
of our making the dugout ten miles to the south, we 
would try it. For hours and hours we lay listening to 
that distant roar of wind and driving snow until I could 
stand it no longer. 

"Let's try it," I suggested to E-took-a-shoo, who 
grinned and replied: 

"Yes, let's try it." 

As we lashed down the clothes- and komatik-bags to 
the sledge, the dogs, like white mounds in the drift, 
arose, shook off their snowy covering, blinked through 
eyes half filled with snow, as if to say, "Where do you 
think you are going now.^^" 

Out of clefts, gullies, and valleys the wind dr pped 
down upon us with the force of an avalanche. The 
flying snow eddied and whirled and wrapped us in a 
white mantle, until dogs and men seemed as white 
specters. Within five miles of our dugout the wind 
suddenly changed; now it was at our backs, blowing 
us along at a rattling pace around the point and down 
the straight shore. As we stopped to untangle traces 
a white wolf came bounding up to within twenty yards. 
My king dog was nearly frantic with excitement. With 
a leap he snapped the trace. I had read of these power- 
ful wolves tearing Eskimo dogs to pieces, and for the 
moment I had fears for the safety of my best dog. 
They were groundless. The wolf was terrified and took 
to his heels. Within a few minutes the dog had over- 
taken him, took one smell, dropped his tail between 
his legs, and came trotting slowly back, wearing a most 
shamefaced expression. "To think that a dog of my 



1914] THE RETURN FROM THE POLAR SEA 91 

age should have mistaken a wolf for a bear!" was written 
all over him. 

The wolf at this sudden turn of events gained courage 
and followed the dog back. E-took-a-shoo was so 
nervous that I was afraid he would blow up, repeating 
over and over again: 

"And we have no rifle!" 

We proceeded eastward. The wolf followed us close- 
ly almost to the very door of our dugout. E-took-a-shoo 
jumped from his sledge and ran for the black hole in 
the snow, his little short legs revolving like the spokes 
of a wheel. The wolf had now stopped and was lurk- 
ing behind the rough ice of the ice-foot. In a few 
minutes he had disappeared entirely. Wise old owl! 

I determined to wait here until the weather had 
cleared and the dogs had gained strength, which could 
only come by feeding them fresh meat. To pound 
them over to Cape Colgate in their present weakened 
condition simply to secure a record would be a crime. 
They had already covered 725 miles in fifty days — a 
good, honest work; they should rest for a few days at 
least. 

E-took-a-shoo realized the necessity for meat, and, 
although it was still blowing hard, he started back 
among the hills at once. In ten hours he was back with 
two caribou. 

May 2d and 3d were typical of the cape — strong 
winds and drifting snows. On the morning of the 4th 
I began to worry over the continued absence of Green 
and Pee-a-wah-to. Six days had elapsed and I had 
given them only three days' food. Where could they 
be and what could have happened ,f* So constantly did 
I watch that point to the north throughout the day that 



92 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [May 

the picture is still in my mind — the broken ice, the slop- 
ing shore, the high bluff, the white hill. Late in the 
afternoon a black dot appeared on the horizon — some- 
thing was coming. As the dot approached I could con- 
tain myself no longer; the sledge coming must be Pee-a- 
wah-to's. Where was Green .^^ 

I ran along the ice-foot to meet the sledge. Yes, 
they were Pee-a-wah-to's dogs. As the question, 
"WThere's Green?" was about to burst from my lips, 
the driver, whose eyes were covered with large metal 
glasses, seemed to turn suddenly into a strange likeness 
of Green. He looked as if he had risen from the grave. 

"This is all there is left of your southern division," 
he said. 

"What do you mean — ^Pee-a-wah-to dead.'' Your 
dogs and sledge gone?" I inquired. 

"Yes, Pee-a-wah-to is dead; my dogs were buried 
alive; my sledge is under the snow forty miles away." 

The story was quickly told. Green, inexperienced in 
the handling of Eskimos, and failing to understand their 
motives and temperament, had felt it necessary to shoot 
his companion. Pee-a-wah-to was a faithful assistant 
of Peary for more than two years, his last trip as one 
of the famous starvation party to the world's record of 
87° 6'. He had been my traveling companion from the 
first, and one of the best. How I hated to tell the 
mother and the five children that the father was not to 
return ! 

Our dugout was a dreary hole. The northern end of 
Axel Heiberg Land, with its ever-rushing, whirling winds, 
seemed the dreariest of the dreary. Green consented to 
start, and off toward home we went. WTien we arrived 
at the "Took-too" igloo, some fifteen miles down the 



'^r^j 




Caribou and Musk-oxen 



_.^::li^ 


i : 




^ 


-^^:5LjfL^ 


K 


_35k_ 


^L m 


•S51 


^. m^ 


A d 




Caribou 



Raven 
Polar Bear 
Blue Fox 



Musk-oxen 



Arctic Hare 



Ptarmigan 
Caribou 




17 •tr'*'*'^^^ 




ESKIMO DRAWINGS OF DIFFERENT ANIMALS 



1914] THE RETURN FROM THE POLAR SEA 93 

coast, we were not surprised to find a sledge abandoned 
by Arklio and Noo-ka-ping-wa on their return. They 
had wisely decided to unite their few remaining weak- 
ened dogs into one team. 

Ten miles south of this camp we saw four caribou 
grazing on the frozen moss of a sloping hillside, 300 
yards from the shore. Green guarded our dogs, while 
E-took-a-shoo and I crept cautiously to within shoot- 
ing-distance. We dropped upon our breasts and took 
long, careful, deadly aim. Shot followed shot. Six in 
all! The caribou regarded them as mere every -day in- 
cidents, hardly raising their heads! Beginning to dis- 
trust my eyes at the sight of four big bodies calmly 
feeding at what was apparently a distance of only forty 
yards away, I scrutinized the fat face of my Eskimo 
companion. He grinned sheepishly, pressed his cheek 
more firmly to the stock of his .44, squinted, and pulled 
again. This last shot was comforting in that it was 
acknowledged by a start, a shaking of heads, and a dis- 
appearance over the crest of the nearest hill. 

"The last of them," I muttered, as I started back 
toward the sledges. 

E-took-a-shoo stood wavering, first looking at me 
and then toward the hill. To my surprise, he tucked 
his rifle under his arm and began to ascend the hill. 

"Good courage," I remarked to Green, "but he'll 
never get them.'* 

He was back in fifteen minutes with them all! Per- 
sistency combined with patience — the secret of a good 
hunter — these qualities the Eskimo has in a marked 
degree. 

We fed a whole caribou to each team. How they 
ripped into the red, tender flesh; how they crunched and 



94 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [May 

cleaned the bones, wagging their tails and plainly saying : 
"Thank God, we're on land again! No more pemmican 
for us!" 

An hour later, as we helped ourselves to steaming 
hearts, tongues, livers, and tenderloin, we agreed with 
all they said. The change from pemmican was pleas- 
ant. Three of the brains were put aside to be frozen 
for breakfast. 

Through the haze of the 6th, white-capped Hvit- 
berget could be faintly distinguished at least thirty- 
five miles distant. We headed toward this straight 
over the sea ice, E-took-a-shoo leading all day long, and 
setting a good pace with the help of a large sail rigged 
to the back of his sledge. To our disappointment, the 
snow house here was demolished, compelling us to re- 
build. It was one of the pleasures of our return to look 
forward to the ready-built house at the end of the 
trail. 

Influenced by his success of the day before in con- 
verting his sledge into a ship, E-took-a-shoo bravely 
set his square sail to take advantage of a strong fair 
wind. Entering a long lane of glassy ice, the sledge 
fairly ran amuck, with E-took-a-shoo holding on to it 
like a leach and blowing like a porpoise. The sledge 
plowed through the dogs, scattered them to right and 
left, jibed over, whirled crazily, and then capsized. 
The dogs eyed it suspiciously and wondered if this rapidly 
moving animal could be good to eat! 

Our igloo at Schei Island, with its glistening, blue- 
tinted walls, and the warm bed and floor deep with furs, 
recalled memories of the five happy days spent there. 
Here we recovered our caribou-skin sleeping-bags left 
at this point to economize on weight. For thirty-three 



19141 THE RETURN FROM THE POLAR SEA 95 

days we had slept without a bag, simply lying down at 
the end of the day in the clothes in which we walked. 

We kept at the work for eleven hours on the 8th, 
reaching our old camp at Blaamanden following an 
exciting run of about a mile in pursuit of a large white 
wolf which managed to keep just out of gun-shot. 

Our experience the next day, traveling south, is 
typical of northern work, and most interesting. We 
became separated in a drifting snow-storm shortly after 
leaving camp, and did not see one another until night. 
Quoting from my field-journal: 

Saturday, May 9ih. Sixtieth day. — A long fast run with a gale 
at our back. It has been so thick that we have not seen each other 
all day. Green dashed out of camp ahead, in hopes of shooting a 
bear. About a nule down the coast I passed one of his dogs, too 
weak to go on and left to die. He gave out yesterday and was 
dropped, but came in during the night. I reached for my rifle to 
shoot him as I passed, but did not have the heart to kUl him after 
such faithful work. 

When I had run my distance, according to my watch, fearing lest 
I might miss the igloo, I stopped the dogs and climbed the hill to 
look for E-took-a-shoo and Green. Through a rift now and then 
could be seen, far off on the ice, a black object resembling a sledge, 
side to the wind, with dogs partly buried, huddled under the lee. 
Up the coast was another crawling dot which I knew must be E-took- 
a-shoo; down the coast a short distance I made out an old familiar 
pressure ridge and what resembled an igloo. Upon E-took-a-shoo's 
rejoining me, he looked long and earnestly through my glasses ^ 
the suspicious-looking object out in the center of the fiord, but 
could not detect the faintest resemblance to a man, sledge, and 
dogs. 

We proceeded south to the snow house, made our tea, and pre- 
pared for bed. Worried over the prolonged absence of Green, 1 
mounted the igloo. The suspicious-looking object was at last in 
motion. Green had finished his nap and was now searching for oui 
trail, which was readily found and followed. 

A very laughable incident occurred to-night. One of my fur boots 
was caught by the wind and was being carried rapidly along over 



96 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [May 

the smooth ice of the Sound. E-took-a-shoo ran after it as rapidly 
as his short legs would permit. My dogs awoke with a start after 
he had passed, and saw the queer, fuzzy-looking article bounding and 
leaping, with E-took-a-shoo in pursuit. They jumped, tore the 
eight-pound tin of pemmican, which served as an anchor, out of the 
snow, and were soon at full speed on the heels of the Eskimo. Five 
of the leaping dogs passed upon one side, three upon the other, with 
the most undignified result. When the knotted traces and the 
bounding tin caught E-took-a-shoo back of the heels, he didn't 
have so far to fall as some, but that far was far enough. I 
noticed that he arranged a very soft seat on his sledge the next 
morning. 

We arrived at the head of Bay Fiord on the 12th, 
after a continuous twelve-and-three-quarter-hour march 
on snow-shoes through heavy snow. Poor Green had 
no shoes, having lost them at Cape Thomas Hubbard, 
and arrived an hour later completely exhausted. 

Added to my troubles was the enforced fostering of 
a pup born that morning on the march and carried on 
the inside of my shirt against my body to keep it warm. 
K that pup had lived it would have traveled in circles 
for the rest of its life! It crawled around my body forty 
times, and finally wriggled out through a hole in the back 
of my shirt. And after all this care, the mother refused 
to accept it at night! 

A nine-hour plodding through deep snows on the 
14th, up over the hills of Ellesmere Land, brought us to 
what resembled the bed of an old lake, a confluence of 
glacial streams resulting in a large area of rolling ice. 
Looking back through and over the black serrated peaks 
rising out of snow-covered valleys and winding glaciers 
well repaid us for our exhausting work. However dif- 
ficult an ascent may have been and however physically 
tired the body, no one has ever yet regretted the ex- 
penditure of time and energy necessary in lifting one- 



1914] THE RETURN FROM THE POLAR SEA 97 

self above the clouds and so placing the world at one's 
feet. 

On the 15th we ascended to the summit of the glacier, 
a height of 4,700 feet, keeping at the work for eleven 
and a half hours and camping well down on the eastern 
side, following an exciting run during which Green 
overturned and smashed his sledge. A white wolf fol- 
lowed us throughout the day, and at night sat on his 
haunches at a respectable distance, interested in our 
making camp. 

In consideration of the fact that we were approach- 
ing a large cache of pemmican, I decided to repay the 
dogs for their arduous work of the last few days, and 
incidentally surprise them, by giving to each two and 
a quarter pounds of pemmican — more than a double 
ration! An exclamation from E-took-a-shoo, followed 
by "Tokowokr* ("He is dead!"), caused me to look 
toward a dog on Green's team lying on his side with 
his tail wagging. For a moment I concluded this to 
be but a manifestation of extreme and satisfying pleas- 
ure at having partaken of such a bountiful repast. A 
glance, however, at the size of his throat revealed the 
startling fact that he was so sure that some one else 
would want that big piece of pemmican that for safe 
keeping he had bolted the whole thing! 

Tracheotomy! Green had always wanted to do it. 
Here was his chance! The trachea was slit. The chest 
was squeezed and contracted, then released and ex- 
panded. The forelegs were stretched high over the dog's 
head, and then pushed forcibly into his belly ! The dog 
died, undoubtedly discouraged. 

Thirteen hours' sledging on the 16th, ending with 
some careful and somewhat dangerous work on the 



98 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [May 

very front of the glacier, completed the day. The 
sweeping winds and warm spring suns had removed the 
snows and almost polished the hard, flinty surface. 
Fearing lest our sledges, once fairly started and beyond 
control, might plunge down the glacier and leap off 
into space, landing below, a complete wreck, we slipped 
all the dogs, overturned the sledges to increase friction, 
and placed a heavy drag far in the rear. We coaxed 
them carefully along inch by inch, and just as carefully 
lowered them to the sea ice below. 

Hayes Sound presented very heavy going, compelling 
us to resort to snow-shoes throughout the day. To 
our surprise, upon reaching the site of our old cache on 
the ice at the entrance of the Sound, there was hardly 
a vestige of supplies left ! One hundred miles from home 
and no promise of dog food! I had ordered it to be 
moved to the mainland, and the order had evidently 
been obeyed ; but where was the note which should have 
been left informing us as to the location of the new 
cache .f^ A thorough search failed to reveal what we 
were looking for. 

As we stood together outside of our igloo, puzzled 
to know what course to pursue, E-took-a-shoo dis- 
covered three sticks in alignment projecting above the 
surface of the snow and pointing toward the land. 
He hitched up his dogs, drove away, and in a few 
hours was back with all our personal effects and a load 
of pemmican. 

As we crossed Alexandra Fiord we caught our first 
sight of the Greenland coast through and over the heavy 
bank of mist marking open water in Smith Sound. Just 
how far north we would be compelled to go in order to 
cross none of us knew; E-took-a-shoo, judging by the 



1914] THE RETURN FROM THE POLAR SEA 99 

warm weather of Eureka Sound, feared that it might 
be for some distance. 

The 19th gave us our last drubbing. Nothing else 
would have ever tempted us to round Cape Rutherford 
that day but a can of jam which Ekblaw had promised 
to leave under the Svendson cross at Sverdrup's old 
winter quarters in Rice Strait. How we fought against 
that wind and smothering drift, fairly choking for 
breath! The dogs quit and huddled in a ball, and we 
took shelter in the lee of our sledges and yelled that 
ever-repeated "Huk! Huk!" which now, after four 
years, we should be yelling in our sleep. After quarter- 
ing the shore in vain and peering underneath every sus- 
picious-looking pile of rocks, we ascended the hill and 
removed the stones from beneath the cross, yearning 
for something sweet. How a man craves it! Green 
declared he knew he could drink a gallon of molasses! 
We finally sat down to the same old menu — tea, biscuit, 
and pemmican, and were thankful for that. 

The cross near which we pitched our tent had been 
erected by Sverdrup and his men in memory of the 
ship's doctor, by the name of Svendson, who was found 
dead in his tent at Fort Juliana some thirty miles west 
of the Fram. His body was brought to the ship and 
given a seaman's burial by lowering it through a hole 
in the ice of Rice Strait. 

From this point a rapid run brought us to Peary's 
old hut at Payer Harbor, which I entered at once, ex- 
pecting to find two cans of beans buried in the north- 
western corner, as per agreement. My eyes nearly 
popped out upon beholding a box of canned peaches, 
pears, and marmalade! The beans may be there yet! 
Doctor Hunt had visited the hut, leaving for the west- 



100 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mat 

ern party, as I had requested, a few delicacies and a 
note containing the news of the past two months. 
With hands and faces smeared with good things and 
with eyes and noses buried in the can, we failed to de- 
tect the approach of two galloping dog-teams. E-took- 
a-shoo must have had his nose as well as his mouth 
filled with marmalade, or he would certainly have 
smelled that fresh seal meat with which the dogs and 
men were reeking. It was the first real foretaste of the 
summer. 

Although late in the year and the ice breaking up, 
Ak-pood-a-shah-o and Oo-bloo-ya had crossed the 
Sound and were to continue over the heights of Elles- 
mere Land to our relief, without a thought of their 
families and the possibility of being cut off from home, 
thinking possibly that we had lost our dogs and were 
slowly plodding homeward. As a reward for such faith- 
fulness I concluded that nothing was too good for these 
two men; and that so long as we were in the North 
they could depend upon us for all needed supplies. 

Everything was transferred to their sledges. Our 
dogs, but shadows of their former selves, wagged their 
tails upon being relieved of their loads by their fat 
brothers just from home. In six hours we were on the 
Greenland shore, headed south through a light, soft 
snow. Near Cape Hatherton, Noo-ka-ping-wa, a dog 
of excellent spirit, staggered from side to side and then 
dropped. He had covered his 1,400 miles with head and 
tail up and was always pulling when the others quit. 
Now, nearing the house, he seemed to say, "Well, I 
think you can make it without my help,'* and gave up. 
Slipping his harness, I stroked his head and left him, 
knowing that he would follow on when he had renewed 



1914] THE RETURN FROM THE POLAR SEA lOl 

his strength. He was curled up with the team in the 
morning. 

Before we reached the house we met Jot leaving for 
the North on a seal-hunting trip with old Panikpa. 
We learned all the news: He had killed a large wolf 
near our front door, interesting news, considering that 
a white wolf had not been seen in Greenland for a half- 
century. Kood-Ia-tin-a's little girl had been strangled, 
having playfully hooked her sealskin hood over the up- 
stander of a sledge. The only child and the only pos- 
sible one, I knew the mother's heart must be broken. 
Poo-ad-loo-na and Jacob-shoo-na had been carried away 
on an ice pan. Jot had built an ice-boat, so novel and 
so fast that reports of this wonderful production of a 
white man have become exaggerated with the distance 
and with the years. As old Ak-kom-mo-ding-wa ex- 
claimed : 

"It goes like the very devil and doesn't have to be 
fed!" 



VI 

WORK AT BORUP LODGE 

TXTHEN Ekblaw left me in Bay Fiord on March 23d 
^ ' and returned to Etah with his frosted feet, I 
gave him instructions for work following his recovery. 
He was absolutely free to come and go whenever he 
pleased, and to help himself to any or all of the equip- 
ment and supplies. He was to plan for whatever work 
he deemed most valuable for the interests of himself 
and the expedition. He had concluded that a delinea- 
tion of the unknown coast-line of Princess Marie Bay 
offered the greatest inducement for the expenditure of 
his time and efforts; and in this I had agreed with 
him. 

To my surprise, I now learned that he and Tanquary 
had been persuaded by Freuchen, the Danish trader, 
that his home at North Star Bay was an Arctic paradise, 
whereupon they had gone south for geological and 
zoological work, with the intention of returning during 
the summer in Freuchen's power-boat. 

With the breaking up of the sea ice and the melting 
of the land snows, our sledging-days were over for about 
four months. During this warm period we planned 
work in ornithology, geology, botany, zoology, map- 
work, and photography. And at the same time we 



1914] WORK AT BORUP LODGE 103 

kept in mind the needed daily supply of fresh meat and 
its methodical accumulation for the following winter. 

One of the great surprises of the Northland is its 
enormous bird life, always heralded by two wheeling 
white dots high in the heavens outlined against the deep 
blue of the sky. 

It is a warm day in the Eskimo village. The sun is 
high. Summer has come. Traces of water are seen on 
the surface of black rocks. Dogs are stretched out at 
full length. The quietness and peace of the big fiord 
is broken only by the voices of children hunting imagi- 
nary seals among the rough shore ice. Suddenly ring- 
ing out loud and clear comes the glad cry: " Ta-koo! 
N au-yucTc~suitr ("Look! The glaucous gulls!"). No- 
mads of the sea, they have come from their southern 
winter homes, two and even three thousand miles dis- 
tant, unerringly back to their birthplace in the Arctic. 

The big burgomaster, or glaucous gull {Larus hyper- 
horeus) seems to be an integral part of the Northland. 
Bold, strong, and vigorous, he sweeps along the face of 
the vertical black cliffs on outstretched wings, fully con- 
fident of his power to secure subsistence and to battle 
against wind and snow. The first to come and the last 
to go, we welcome and we miss them. 

Another white bird on the cliff catches the eye. The 
rapid beat of the wings identifies it at once as the courser 
of the North — the gyrfalcon {Falco islandus). This bird 
stands as the dominant king of Northern bird-land, 
fearless, aggressive, and the swiftest of all. In lonely 
and inaccessible places it builds its nest, scorning the 
friendship of bird or man. Although the gyrfalcon lived 
within two miles of our house, we rarely saw it. A 
rapid white dash and the bird was gone. Its tremendous 



104 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [June 

activity, however, and its voracious appetite were 
strikingly apparent in the enormous pile of wing and 
leg bones of the dovekie in the immediate vicinity of the 
nest. The remains of black guillemots, ptarmigan, and 
even eider ducks all testify to the strength, the swift- 
ness, and the aggressiveness of this energetic bird. 

Vivacity is the chief characteristic of the sea-pigeon 
or Mandt's guillemot {Cepphus mandti) . Dabbling, div- 
ing, and perking their heads, skittering from the water 
with pattering red feet, these sprightly birds are found 
in every pool and all along the edge of the ice. With a 
rush they are off with rocking bodies; but they soon 
return with a graceful sweep, outstretched feet, and 
happy-go-lucky splash. A lover of the North and un- 
mindful of violent winds, stormy seas, driving snows, 
and freezing slush, the sea-pigeon remains, strange to 
relate, in the open waters of Smith Sound throughout 
the dark winter night. This bird has been seen every 
month in the year. We saw it late in the fall in the 
semi-darkness and early in the spring in the increasing 
twilight. Many and many a time it seemed to be the 
only animate thing outside of our dogs and ourselves 
in that frozen world. We blessed it for its presence. 

The northern eider duck {Somateria mollissima bore- 
alis) is of the highest value to the northern Eskimo. 
Weighing three and a half pounds each and a single egg 
three and a half ounces, their food value is considerable. 
Incredible numbers of these birds arrive at Etah about 
May 13th. The waters, the edge of the ice, and the numer- 
ous islands about Etah are fairly dotted with their bodies. 
The soft and melodious mating cry of "Ah-6o. . . . 
Ah-6o. . . . Coo-c6o. . . , Coo-c6o," is heard day and 
night. There is a continuous flight of birds around and 



1914] WORK AT BORUP LODGE 105 

about Sunrise Point, Littleton, Eider Duck Islands, and 
McGary's Rock. 

How impatiently we awaited the discovery of those 
first golden nuggets in the nests! Can we ever forget 
those annual pilgrimages to the shrine at historic Little- 
ton and Eider Duck Islands and McGary's Rock ! Here, 
among a laughing, jolly company of men, women, and 
children, we pitched our tents among the nests; we 
boiled eggs, and we fried eggs, and we scrambled eggs, 
and we shirred eggs, and we did everything to eggs! 
In a few hours 4,000 delicious fresh eggs were gathered 
from one small island alone. Cached beneath the 
rocks, away from the direct rays of the sun, they remain 
perfectly fresh; they become chilled in August; and 
freeze hard as so many rocks in September — a much- 
appreciated delicacy during the long winter months. 
The shells are often broken and the contents poured or 
squirted from the mouth of the Eskimo into the intesti- 
nal sheath of the bearded seal or the walrus, a most 
nutritious sausage to be eaten on the long sledge trips. 

The breeding-place of the brant {Branta hernicla 
glaucogastra) has often been the subject of inquiry when 
conversing with sportsmen. We found it in consider- 
able numbers on Sutherland Island near Cape Alexander, 
and upon both Littleton and Eider Duck Islands, five 
miles north of Etah. The nest, containing from four 
to six white eggs, resembles in every particular that of 
the eider. The down with which the nest is lined may 
be a little lighter in color. 

But what is that great, pulsating, musical note which 
seems at times to fill all space.'' Now loud and clear, 
now diminishing to a low distant hum ! The sound pro- 
claims the arrival of a true representative of the bird 



106 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [June 

life of the Arctic, the most interesting and the most 
valuable of all, the bird which means so much to the 
Smith Sound native — the dovekie or little auk {AUe alle) . 

The long, dark winter has at last passed away. The 
larder, open to all, is empty. The sun is mounting 
higher into the heavens day by day. Now and then a 
seal is seen sunning himself at his hole. The Eskimos 
are living from hand to mouth. And then, that glad 
cry, relieving all anxiety for the future, bringing joy 
to every heart: *' Ark-pood-e-ark-sidt! Ark-pood-e-ark- 
suitr ("Little auks! Little auks!"). 

As a boy I had found this little wanderer, weak and 
emaciated, on the coldest and shortest days of winter 
washed up by the billows on the back shores of Cape 
Cod. Pine knots, the fishermen called them, and to 
my question, "Where do they come horn?" they could 
give no reply. Little did I think then that their home 
was in the shadow of the Pole, and that on the first day 
of August, thirty years later, high up on the summit 
of Bushman Island in a driving snow-storm, I should 
be making wild sweeps with an Eskimo dip-net in my 
endeavor to ensnare a few for supper! 

As the numberless black-and-white bodies wheel out 
from the talus-covered cliffs into the fiord, they resemble 
nothing so much as a gigantic swarm of bees, now black, 
now a glittering white, as their breasts reflect the rays 
of the sun. 

Laughing women and children, in anticipation of the 
feast, hastily gather up their nets and sealskin bags. 
Pups, pets, and cripples are harnessed to father's old 
sledge, and the caravan is off for the day. Once at the 
rookery, the mother takes her position in one of the 
various holes in the talus used by her ancestors through 



1914] WORK AT BORUP LODGE 107 

the centuries, and is soon busily engaged in sweeping 
the air, swinging the long twelve-foot pole, terminating 
in a dip-net some fifteen inches in diameter, for hours 
and hours, often netting with one sweep ten and twelve 
birds. In the mean time, the children, early trained in 
accuracy of stone-throwing, are continually adding their 
quota, or can be seen, feet and legs up, fairly standing 
on their heads in their endeavor to reach the single 
white egg deposited deep in the rocks. 

Many of these birds are eaten raw on the spot, each 
Eskimo consuming ten and twelve; and many are boiled 
in soapstone and iron kettles; while thousands are 
cached, uncleaned, to season for the midwinter feasts. 
The skins are sucked to remove the fat, softened by 
rubbing, and then cut and sewed together into warm 
birdskin shirts once so common, but now replaced by 
the white man's shirt of the trade-list. 

May, June, July, and August are the harvest days, 
for "the time cometh when no man can work." Active, 
energetic, full of life and the love of life, the Smith 
Sound native is out of bed, kayak launched, and away, 
his piercing, dark-brown eyes, set in a frame of straight, 
jet-black hair, noting every ripple or movement upon 
the water; he is in search of the walrus. It is a won- 
derful sight to see the flash and dip of that paddle, the 
speed of that black, clean-cut body, the graceful curve 
of the flying harpoon, the mighty splash of a large herd 
of monster walrus! 

It is not sport to shoot musk-oxen rounded up by 
your dogs and huddling and trembling with fear. Nor 
is it sport to pump a bullet into the silvery-white body 
of a polar bear held at bay by fifty and sixty dogs. 
Necessity for meat is one's only excuse for such slaughter. 



108 FOUR YEAES IN THE WHITE NORTH [June 

But get into a twenty-inch skin boat, only nine inches 
in depth, and dash at a bull walrus weighing a ton. 
With no help from dogs or man, put your skill, your 
strength, your nerve against those long ivory tusks 
and the remarkable quickness of that ponderous body. 
An accurate knowledge of the temperament and the 
characteristics of a wild animal has saved many a 
hunter. Uncertainty as to action, however, is written 
all over a walrus, as shown by the large number of 
casualties incurred in the chase. 

In Spitzbergen, some years ago, a herd assumed the 
offensive, upon being attacked, capsized the boat, and 
killed every man. In 1908 a bull walrus attacked 
Sipsoo, an Etah native, capsized his kayak, cut his 
throat, and left him for dead. In 1910, Arklio, one of 
the best and most skilful hunters in the tribe, was at- 
tacked and nearly lost his life. The walrus whipped 
around when harpooned, rushed at Arklio, and drove 
his tusk completely through his arm. In 1908 some 
fifty walrus attacked our whale-boat, undeterred by the 
frightful yells of the thoroughly terrified natives, who 
were beating the rails and water with oars, and the 
crash of a stream of bullets from my Winchester auto- 
matic and Borup's powerful Mauser. Two of the ani- 
mals succeeded in hooking their tusks over the rail. 
The following year in a similar attack one broke through 
the bottom of the boat. No, the fighting qualities of 
a walrus are truly to be respected, and dealt with ac- 
cordingly. Each year our natives secured between 
fifty and one hundred of these great brutes, the very 
best of rich red meat for themselves and dogs, a guar- 
antee of strength for the long white trail leading to un- 
explored lands, the main object of our expedition. All 




NETTING DOVEKIES AT THE RATE OF ONE A MINUTE 



1914] WORK AT BORUP LODGE 109 

work during the summer must be subordinate to the 
all-important task of meat getting. 

We depended for our coats, boots, and mittens upon 
seals secured upon the ice in May by creeping behind 
a white sail fastened to a small sledge; during the sum- 
mer they are shot with the rifle from the kayak. 

We kept careful watch day and night over our house 
and equipment, and our meteorological observations 
went on without interruption. Both Doctor Hunt and 
Small were keen hunters. The former supplied our 
table with seal meat, and the latter with eider duck, 
black guillemot, and murre, many of which were pre- 
pared as specimen skins for the American Museum. 
On the 20th of June Hunt surprised and pleased us all 
by appearing at midnight with the hindquarters of a 
caribou around his neck. He had beaten the Eskimos 
at their own game; no one had secured a caribou at 
Etah for years. 

Jerome Allen deserves the very highest praise for 
his indefatigable efforts to establish communications 
with home through his wireless apparatus. He was by 
far the hardest worker of the expedition from the time 
that he landed upon the beach until I bade him good- 
by two years later. Handicapped by a constitution 
which failed him repeatedly, he was ever enthusiastic, 
and did not give up hope until every expedient had been 
tested which he could devise with the material available. 
Within twenty-one days after our floor timbers were in 
place he had assembled his engine, wired the switch- 
board, storage batteries, and house, and had snapped 
the button — presto! the house was flooded with electric 
lights! Under his direction, with the help of the boys, 
wires were strung from the top of the hill in the rear of 



no FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [June 

the house, across the river valley to the heights east. 
Yet after all this effort not a rewarding buzz was heard ! 
A rattle, bang, snap, and crash, the voices of the terrific 
winds sweeping down from the Greenland ice-cap out to 
sea, were the only answer to his appeal. 

Confident that results could be obtained by using 
kite wire as an aerial, Allen expended many weeks of 
hard labor in building and flying huge box-kites; but 
the experiment failed, because of winds uncertain both 
in force and in direction. Confident again that if a sub- 
station could be established on one of the outer islands, 
remote from the counter influence of the big hills back- 
ing Borup Lodge, results would certainly be obtained, 
he requested a trial. With the help of our motor-boat, 
whale-boat, and the Eskimos, all the electrical and wire- 
less equipment was transferred to Starr Island, some 
two miles southwest from the lodge. Here, with the 
help of Ensign Green, a small house was built and the 
equipment installed, with the same negative results. 

The boys, both ambitious for study, found this little 
home, warm and well stocked with food, so cozy and 
comfortable that they preferred its comparative quiet- 
ness to the company of the white men and the fun-loving 
Eskimos. This happy decision was a distinct advantage 
to the expedition in that it served as an objective for 
our daily walk, and also as a meteorological sub-station, 
where conditions were at times so different as to be al- 
most uncanny. As an illustration: Starting from our 
house one day with the thermometer at -24 F,, there 
was a sharp division line about half-way to the island, 
where the temperature dropped to -40. This remark- 
able change was very evident upon two other occasions. 
Undoubtedly our temperatures at Borup Lodge, right 



1914] WORK AT BORUP LODGE ill 

at the base of the big hills over which the wind flowed 
from the heights of the 10,000-foot ice-cap of Green- 
land, were influenced considerably by adiabatic heating. 

On June 27th all our Eskimos arrived from the region 
of the Humboldt Glacier, bringing with them four polar 
bears. As his contribution, Ak-pood-a-shah-o presented 
me with a long- tailed jaeger which he had caught in his 
hand by reaching up over the edge of the ice-foot as 
it was feeding! Considering how alert the bird is, this 
was indeed a remarkable feat. Oo-bloo-ya brought the 
egg of an ivory gull; although broken, it was highly 
prized as being the only one in our collection. 

But the best gift of all was brought back by Ah-now- 
ka — a yellow, faded record of the Elisha Kent Kane 
Expedition of sixty-one years before, bearing the date 
of August 24, 1853. Referring to his book, we find 
that on this day the little brig Advance was being 
tracked along the ice-foot on her way north. On 
August 23d Doctor Kane sent out *' Messrs. Wilson, 
Petersen, and Bonsall to inspect a harbor which seems 
to lie between a small island and a valley that forms 
the inner slope of our bay." The name of Bonsall could 
be deciphered, which would indicate that the record 
was placed there by this party. 

A few days later, Ak-pood-a-shah-o, not to be out- 
done by his nephew, Ah-now-ka, placed in my hands 
two very valuable records of Doctor Kane, an old cap- 
lining and a sheet of heavy paper on which was cut 
with the point of a knife: "All well. Kane. Aug. 29, 
'53. Gone south. 78° 40'." Across the bottom of the 
paper can be deciphered with difiiculty a large "Kane," 
which might have been made with a pointed stick or 
the point of a bullet. 



112 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [June 

The following is the entry for that date in his book: 

In the morning of the SOtli, Mr. Brooks, McGary, and myself 
walked fourteen miles along the marginal ice; it was heavy and com- 
plicated with drift, but there was nothing about it to make me change 
my purpose. 

His purpose was to return to the ship and organize 
a boat party to advance north, which explains the 
*'Gone south" in the record. 

Page 58 also aids us in an understanding of the 
record : 

I erected a small beacon cairn on the point; and as I had neither 
paper, pencil, nor pennant, I burned a "K" with powder on the 
rock, and scratching "O.K." with a pointed bullet on my cap- 
lining, hoisted it as the representative of a flag. 

He hoisted this makeshift flag on August 29th, one 
mile above Fog Inlet, which he subsequently renamed 
Refuge Harbor. The "O.K." can still be seen. To 
think that we held in our hands a record and the cap- 
lining of the first American Arctic explorer! Actual 
relics of the author of a book which has caused many 
a lad to neglect his studies and dream and dream of 
sledges, dogs, snow-shoes, and the North trail! I felt 
that we were almost shaking hands with the immortal 
Kane. 

June 29th was an important day in the life of one little 
chap, for on that day he announced his arrival in un- 
mistakable tones. And he had come without the pro- 
fessional skill of learned doctors, the smell of ether or 
chloroform, or the tender care of a high-priced nurse. 
The mother, a healthy animal, attended to the child 
and was up and about in a few hours. 




THE NIAGARA OF NORTH GREENLAND 

The sound of falling water is heard up and down the coast during the warm months of June, 

July, and August. 



1914] WORK AT BORUP LODGE 113 

Eskimo children are born under most amazing con- 
ditions and in remote and strange places — on islands 
when hunting ducks* eggs, far back on the hills in pur- 
suit of caribou, and even on the trail, with father seated 
on his dog-sledge, patiently waiting and watching the 
little maternity hospital quickly fashioned for the 
occasion out of blocks of snow. 

Thoughts of our country far away to the south would 
not permit us to pass Independence Day unnoticed. 
Miserable weather, however, prevented us from carrying 
out the program of races we had planned, and com- 
pelled us to resort to a simple flag-raising in recognition 
of the day. 

Our meat menu was pleasurably varied at this time 
by the substitution of seventeen magnificent salmon trout 
{Salvelinus stagnalis) caught in Alida Lake by Arklio, 
E-took-a-shoo, and Jot. The largest measured twenty- 
eight inches and weighed four and three-quarter pounds. 

By the middle of July the grass was long and green 
and the ground was fairly dotted with flowers. Within 
one minute's walk from our door I counted eighteen dif- 
ferent varieties. With the thermometer at sixty above 
and the warm rays of the ever-circling sun, a wonder- 
ful transformation takes place in the character of that 
far-northern country. The snow disappears as if by 
magic. The sound of falling and flowing water is heard 
throughout the length and breadth of the land. The 
sea ice is pitted and covered with pools of water, and 
is continually breaking into large sheets and disappear- 
ing over the southern horizon. The air vibrates with 
the whirring of the wings of countless birds, the sea 
teems with life, and the ground is covered with beds of 
beautiful flowers. One realizes that the "White North" 



114 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [July 

is not all snow and ice; as elsewhere, the sun means life, 
full and abundant. 

On August 5th our harbor was free of ice, enabling 
us to launch our thirty-foot power-boat. I had worried 
considerably for several weeks over Ekblaw and Tan- 
quary, believing that all was not quite so rosy at Umanak 
as pictured by the Danish trader. True, they had 
planned and outfitted their own trip with all the equip- 
ment and supplies of the expedition at their command, 
yet I felt that a relief party might be welcome. 

On the 9th we were off through large fields of ice 
with our 12-H.P. Wolverine engine working like a clock, 
bound south for North Star Bay, 120 miles distant. 
In six hours we were at the village of Nerky, where we 
found six tupiks inhabited by twenty-two people, all 
of whom, ill-clothed, dirty, and greasy, were in marked 
contrast to our hair-combed, face-washed, cloth-clad, 
cigar-smoking Eskimos. The change brought about by 
a year's contact with white men was hardly credible. 

At Ig-loo-da-houney, poor E-lay-ting-wa sat in her 
home with bowed head and tear-filled eyes, mourning 
over the death of her only little one, just as dear to the 
heart of the savage as it would be to the civilized mother. 

Skirting the shore below Cape Parry to avoid heavy 
sea ice stretching to the southern horizon, we passed 
but a few yards from the hut at Booth Inlet erected by 
the retreat party from the Advance, locked in the ice of 
Rensselaer Harbor. These men, wearied by the monot- 
ony of the Arctic, and lacking the moral strength, when 
hardships came, to stand by their leader, preferred the 
risks of a southward journey in two small boats rather 
than remain for another winter. 

And what hardships they experienced! And at last. 



1914] WORK AT BORUP LODGE 115 

confronted squarely by the consequences of their poor 
judgment and unreasonableness, they drove back to the 
ship to be fed and administered to by Kane and those 
who had remained loyal. 

We found North Star Bay packed with ice, offering 
but little evidence of a lead to Umanak, where our two 
men were supposed to be living. Working to the west- 
ward and zigzagging to the right and left, the boat crept 
ever nearer, arriving at our destination on the afternoon 
of the 11th. Tanquary was soon on board, and the 
story was quickly told and verified by his very apparent 
loss of weight. Lack of food, coupled with their anx- 
iety over the uncertainty of their return home, had 
left their marks. Thoughts of Etah with its well- 
stocked larder had been with them constantly. They 
saved even prune stones, cracking them and eating the 
contents! A real full meal was only a dream and a 
distant hope. Within a few minutes Ekblaw came fairly 
tumbling from a botanical trip among the hills, with 
his usually happy face looking considerably more so. 
Seated on top of our cabin, how they did enjoy those 
buckwheat cakes! And then, filled to repletion and 
with faces sticky with syrup, they both asked: 

"WTien are we going home.'^" 

"Right now; just as soon as we can get out,*' was 
the satisfactory reply. Plowing northward through 
rain, wind, and ice, in twenty hours we were back at 
Etah, stopping a few minutes at Cape Henson for 
water. 

On the 21st, in an attempt to cross Smith Sound 
through running ice, we nearly lost our power-boat. 
Upon approaching Littleton Island, headed west, we 
were tempted by a narrow lead to gain a large expanse 



116 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 

of blue water which was a half-mile distant. It was a 
race between our engine and the hard, bluish - white, 
relentless jaws of a slowly closing trap. The trap won. 
The boat was lifted almost completely out of water and 
rolled over on her side on the pan. The lift saved her. 
When the pressure relaxed somewhat, we chopped the 
ice away with axes and gently lowered her back again 
into the water. When the engine was started, she ran 
around in circles, like a crippled duck, until the cause 
was discovered — a badly twisted rudder, which, when 
properly adjusted, steered us straight back to Etah. 
We had had enough for one day. 

On the 23d, Jot and Ekblaw received instructions to 
proceed south with our Eskimos in the power-boat to 
Sulwuddy, where they were to hunt walrus and seal 
and bring all the meat in cache to Etah. 

A heavy snow-storm on August 25th was followed by 
a strange quietness which reigned throughout the fiord. 
Our cheerful neighbors, the little auks, had gone south — 
conclusive proof of the drawing to an end of our long, 
delightful summer. 

The 30th was a red-letter day. A number of them, 
in fact! I received sixty-two! Our power-boat chug- 
chugged into the harbor loaded with dogs, boxes, and 
mail. Just below Cape Alexander the boys had met 
Peter Freuchen, Danish trader at North Star Bay, 
bound for Etah with Ekblaw's dogs, which he had left 
at Umanak, and with mail from home via Copenhagen, 
Denmark, by means of Rasmussen's ship, which had 
lately arrived at the trading-station, 120 miles to the 
south. A heavy wind and rough sea compelled Freuchen 
to give up the attempt and to transfer everything to our 
boat. 



19141 WORK AT BORUP LODGE 117 

Naturally, our letters and newspapers, the first for 
a year, were very interesting, informing us of our trouble 
with Mexico, the loss of Stefansson's ship, the Karluh, 
the discovery of Nicholas II Land, the plans of Sir 
Ernest Shackleton for crossing Antarctica, the political 
situation at home, and the discovery of a river by 
Colonel Roosevelt in South America. The conflicting 
exclamations and news announcements coming from the 
four bedrooms were a bit laughable: 

"Harvard beat Yale fifteen to five!" 

"Cook says we are here to steal his records!" 

"My brother broke both legs above the ankle!" 

"Oh, my! but that is a great baby!" 

**My wife wants me to come home!" 

It is interesting to note that a few days following the 
receipt of this mail nearly every man contracted a severe 
cold! Undoubtedly the germs of civilization, would-be 
Arctic explorers, had survived the six thousand miles 
of sea travel with our letters and were now at ''Farthest 
North." Letters to outposts should be disinfected. 

We read our letters over and over again, and then 
again buckled down to work, every pleasant day finding 
us out in our power-boat, quartering the sea in search 
of walrus, running north as far as Cape Hatherton and 
south to Cape Chalon. Slush in the water on the 23d 
warned us of a probable freezing over of the harbor, 
and our power-boat was hauled up for the winter. 

The annual pilgrimage to the caribou-grounds some 
fifty miles north took place as usual, the Eskimos and 
Doctor Hunt leaving on September 10th, and returning 
on the 23d with forty-two warm skins, invaluable for 
bed-robes, coats, and sleeping-bags for the extreme tem- 
peratures to come. Such good luck inspired Tanquary 



118 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Sept. 

and Jot to start north tlie next day with Oo-bloo-ya 
and Arklio. 

In the mean time our younger Eskimo boys were con- 
tinually bringing in from the hills hare and ptarmigan, 
the skins of the former being valued highly for our 
winter stockings. Kai-we-ark-suah preferred the use of 
his .22-cal. rifle to the shot-gun. Surprised at this, 
I learned, through questioning, that a few days previous 
he had pulled both triggers of the shot-gun at the same 
time. "Plenty powder, plenty kill!" It nearly did. 

Tanquary reached home on the 10th, followed by 
Jot staggering along the shore of the fiord with drooping 
arms, declaring that for the last sixteen days he had not 
seen a blessed thing but a snow-bunting! His vivid 
description of the country through which they had 
traveled was such that I imagined it to be similar in 
its characteristics to the Grand Canon of the Colorado. 
It was certainly good to have Jot return from one of his 
trips. He declared that he was going indoors for the 
winter! The Eskimos, however, reported nineteen cari- 
bou killed, a very good two weeks' work. 

It is most remarkable, indeed almost incredible, how 
a man will increase in weight following a hard trip in 
the Arctic regions. A pound a day is a common occur- 
rence. In seven days Tanquary put on nine and one- 
half pounds, while Hunt added six pounds in three days ! 

The harbor had now frozen over. With the retreating 
sun the days were gradually decreasing in length. On 
October 24th the sun appeared for the last time. There 
was no weeping on the part of our Eskimos. There 
never is. The coming of the great night is a part of 
their life and is looked forward to with pleasure. It is 
the time of companionship and visiting. Mothers see 



1914] WORK AT BORUP LODGE 119 

their daughters; fathers see their sons. The crowded 
igloos are filled with laughter and good cheer. The dark 
night is one long, delightful holiday. The northern na- 
tive is resting from his labors of spring, summer, and fall. 

Ever since our arrival among our northern friends 
we had planned to entertain them with a vaudeville 
show. As we gave it on the 19th of December, it will 
live, be recalled, and be re-enjoyed for many years to 
come. Requested to leave the room, they discovered, 
upon their return, a well-arranged auditorium with 
seats, stage, and drawn curtain, upon which they glued 
their eyes, in eager anticipation of the event of the year. 
And when that curtain did roll back, revealing, not the 
familiar faces of the seven white men, but a hideous, 
leering row of imported masks, the yell which arose 
was in perfect harmony with the five different keys in 
which we were singing. The Eskimo children in the 
orchestra seats gasped, opened their mouths in terror, 
and fled, some over the backs of the chairs, some under 
and some around, scurrying for cover like a brood of 
quail. Two disappeared through the door and were 
found in the igloo beneath the house, buried deeply in 
the skins of the bed platform, and there they remained. 

The second act was by far the most startling. Doc- 
tor Hunt performed a mock operation, etherizing Jot 
and removing from his stomach a six-pound can of 
pemmican, a ball of twine, a box of cigarettes, and a 
large piece of walrus liver. When, as the finale, the 
doctor severed the head, grasped the apparently ani- 
mated body, and threw it into the audience, there were 
gasps of horror which immediately changed into roars of 
laughter upon the discovery that the grinning head was 
attached to another body concealed beneath the table! 



VII 



TO UPERNAVIK AND BACK 



XTOW that Crocker Land had been proved a myth 
■*■ ^ and our original plans for Arctic work were, there- 
fore, curtailed, it was absolutely necessary that the 
various institutions under whose auspices we had sailed 
should be apprised of the fact in order that a relief- 
ship might be despatched to us in 1915. I deemed it 
imprudent to trust so valuable a mail to Freuchen and 
his Eskimos who journey south every spring, so I 
planned to sledge across Melville Bay to Upernavik in 
South Greenland during the moonlight periods of De- 
cember and January, a distance from Etah of some 
500 miles. This trip would, I believed, add consider- 
able ethnological data through my getting into personal 
touch with every man, woman, and child in the Smith 
Sound tribe. A December start was somewhat unusual, 
but the Dane readily agreed to it and promised to make 
all arrangements for dog-drivers and meat. 

Early in the fall, Tanquary surprised me with a re- 
quest to accompany me on the journey. There was 
every reason why this request should not be granted; 
there was only one why it should — his enthusiasm for 
field-work. I consented to his going, and I am sorry 
to say he met with misfortune on the journey — badly 
frosted feet and the loss of both big toes. 



#' 




A LONELY GKAVE IN THE FAR NORTH 

Sonntag was the astronomer of the Kane Expedition of 1853-55, and of the Hayes Expedition 

of 1860-61. 




PORT FOULKE. WINTER QUARTERS OF HAYES EXPEDITION 



1914] TO UPERNAVIK AND BACK 121 

We were off the day before Christmas, with fourteen 
Eskimos headed south to visit friends and relatives — 
the annual gossiping trip. Tanquary rode on my 
sledge until dogs could be purchased. 

As we passed around Cape Alexander, the Crystal 
Palace Glacier gave us its usual reception. With a 
howling wind and drift at our backs, we raced down 
from the summit to the sea amid the snapping of whips, 
the yelling of the men, the bound and leap of sledges, 
and the crying of securely bundled children. The 
sledges were carefully lowered with rawhide lines over 
the nearly vertical icy face to the ice-foot bordering 
upon a smoky, open sea. Working along a narrow ice- 
foot in the dark with an energetic train of dogs is ex- 
tremely hazardous. Often the preservation of one's 
very life exacts every ounce of strength. Constantly 
alert to avoid protruding rocks, rubbles of ice, holes, 
deep cracks, and slippery slopes leading to the sea, 
quick decisions are imperative; action must be im- 
mediate. It is a glorious jSght against the antagonistic 
weapons of the Northland! And when the last round 
is fought, although the temperature may be at fifty and 
sixty below, one is reeking with perspiration. 

As we started south that night, a section of the ice- 
foot cracked beneath our sledge and fell seaward, leav- 
ing Tanquary, who was guiding the sledge, with one 
foot over the crevice, fairly tottering on the edge. Three 
seconds previous in time or three feet in advance might 
have brought about serious results. Such an incident, 
one of many, is but typical and is well illustrative of 
Arctic work. 

Christmas Day found us reeking with sweat, pushing 
and pulling our sledges up over the Clements Markham 



122 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Dec. 

Glacier. As I was going back on foot to help Ah-we- 
ung-o-na, who had pluckily driven her husband's dogs 
all the way from Etah, I jumped hastily to one side 
upon rounding a sharp turn, face to face with what 
resembled a huge bear. A laugh and a few Eskimo 
words identified the strange beast as Tung-we on all- 
fours. At Etah he had suffered a painful accident 
by stepping upon a long nail, forcing it so deep into his 
heel as to incapacitate him for some weeks, and thus 
compelling his wife to handle the team. 

The lights of Kah-na were a cheerful sight. Coming 
out of the darkness and the cold of the trail, the little 
squares of light behind which we knew were food, 
warmth, and good cheer were blessed again and again. 
The village was crowded. Every bed was more than 
filled. Tanquary and I declined all proffered hospital- 
ity and slept on the ice with our backs against our 
sledges, sacrificing a bit of comfort for the sake of 
freedom from lice, the prevailing scourge of an Eskimo 
home. 

A short run on the 27th brought us to the village of 
Ittibloo. The roar of wind on the glacier precluded all 
thoughts of an attempt to cross the land into Gran- 
ville Bay. Two snow houses were quickly constructed 
for the accommodation of our party, and we were ready 
for the trail when the weather would permit. The 
Eskimos at Kah-na had informed us that rounding Cape 
Parry was impossible. 

We awoke to a clear starlit sky and an almost weird 
stillness, which indicated a total subsidence of all wind. 
The soft footing on the upward slope was a bit tiring 
to men and dogs, but the dash down from the summit 
would have been exciting and enjoyable had it not been 



1914] TO UPERNAVIK AND BACK 123 

for rocks and grit, grating on our nerves as much as on 
the steel runners of our sledges. Hot tea and biscuit 
at the foot of the glacier renewed our strength for the 
long trip to Umanak (North Star Bay), where we ar- 
rived in twelve hours, a distance of fifty miles from 
Ittibloo. 

Freuchen welcomed us warmly and announced his 
readiness to start south at once. The Eskimo girls, 
however, insisted upon a farewell dance. To the strains 
of a squeaky victrola endeavoring to coax music out of 
a few deeply scored and well-worn records, we stepped 
through the plain quadrilles with the half-breed mis- 
sionary and three South Greenland belles, one of whom 
was with child, one Just married, and the third plainly 
setting her cap. It was certainly amusing to see E-took- 
a-shoo and his bearskin pants being shoved from cor- 
ner to corner, absolutely helpless and bewildered. 
Seated upon his sledge, snapping out his long whip over 
the backs of his galloping dogs, he is a picture — but 
dancing! We decided to have another ball the next 
night. 

After the dance we visited the Eskimo igloos. In 
one was Tah-ta-ra, a helpless cripple of whom Peary 
wrote twenty years ago. I had understood that his 
body was being slowly ossified, but Doctor Hunt in- 
formed me that it was bony ankylosis, or arthritis 
deformans. It is a disease of doubtful etiology, but 
it was long believed to be associated intimately with 
gout and rheumatism. Their relationship seems now 
to be disproved. Doctor Osier writes that it is the 
** result of infection, characterized by changes in the 
synovial membranes, cartilage, and peri-articular struct- 
ures, and in some cases by atrophic and hypertrophic 



124 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Jan. 

changes in the bones." That sounds fatal. The 
Eskimo died a few months after. 

Ah-nah-doo, one of the oldest in the tribe, gave me 
an^ interesting bit of information in regard to the mys- 
terious death of Sonntag, the astronomer of the Doctor 
Hayes Expedition of 1860-61. Doctor Hayes, in his 
book, The Open Polar Sea, hints at foul play, and was 
never quite satisfied with the explanation of the Eskimo 
Hans, Sonntag's companion. The old woman averred 
that the sledge upon which the white man was riding 
south from the ship plunged down a steep embankment 
into the sea; and that Hans, the Eskimo driver, de- 
signedly did not warn the man of his danger, nor make 
any effort to save him. To my question as to why 
Hans should be guilty of this treachery she replied: 
"Hans wanted all the white man's things for himself. 
He distributed them among his relatives at the different 
villages." 

However, I attach no importance at all to the story. 
Such an accident might easily happen to an inexperi- 
enced white man; and undoubtedly it would prove 
fatal at low temperatures to one clothed in woolens, 
unless shelter could be reached within a few minutes. 
Hans declared that he had done his best to get the 
freezing man to a place of safety, but that Sonntag died 
on the way. 

With Freuchen*s help we secured dogs for Tanquary, 
and we planned to add to the number at Cape York. 
When we were on the sea ice, ready for the start on 
the morning of the 31st, Peter (Freuchen) exclaimed: 

"Vate von moment, blease!" He returned within a 
few minutes with the remark, "Vel, I have doon it!" 

"What was that, Peter.?" I inquired. 



1915] TO UPERNAVIK AND BACK 125 

"I have married them." 

"What did you do?" 

"Vel, he said he vanted her, and I said dat was all 
right. Now ve vill go." 

Indeed, a typical Arctic romance. No courtship, no 
prearrangement, no ring, no license, no promises, no 
love. Could anything be more primitive? 

On the march some thirty miles below Umanak we 
stopped at "Park-e-to," a rocky cave in the cliff opening 
at the level of the sea, a historic spot, and one almost 
sacred in the tales and traditions of the Smith Sound 
Eskimo. Here for centuries these Northern people 
have taken refuge from driving winds and snow, have 
kindled their seal-oil fires in their soapstone lamps, have 
eaten their raw, frozen meat, and have chanted their 
weird, primitive songs. Seated there in the shadows 
thrown by the uncertain light of a torch, one's imagina- 
tion ran riot, leaping in bounds far back to the early 
days of man. Where were these people when these 
hills were covered with giant trees, when the valleys 
were bright with flowers and the fiords were rippling 
with warm sunlight? And whither did they retreat 
when all the Northlands were buried deep in ice, ob- 
literating the highest mountains and flowing south to 
the latitude of New York? Did they follow the retreat- 
ing edge of the glacier, ever pushing on in pursuit of 
the polar bear, the musk-ox, the walrus, the caribou, and, 
having forgotten the warm Southland, are they now 
content to dress in skins, live on meat, and abide here 
always? Or did they arrive from the Far East by way 
of the fabled Atlantis and then scatter northward, 
westward, and southward to North America? This we 
do know — that the Eskimo of to-day is not closely 



126 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Jan. 

connected with the Japanese or Chinese, as external 
appearances would indicate, but is closely associated 
with the North American Indian; that his home was 
in the northwestern part of North America, and not 
across Bering Strait; that he was driven down to 
the sea by the Indian; that he migrated north, inhabit- 
ing all northern lands to the edge of the Polar Sea. 
His traditions, many of them, are the traditions of the 
North American Indians. His language is polysyn- 
thetic and agglutinative, as is that of the North Apieri- 
can Indian. Strange, happy, laughing nomad of the 
frozen North, living far away from the toil and strife 
and travail of civilization! 

Ak-bat by moonlight seems unreal, a product of the 
imagination. Enraptured, as with the dignity and 
beauty of a great cathedral, we drove along the base of 
the towering cliffs guarding the entrance to the village. 
The stars in that cold, clear sky seemed almost within 
one's grasp. 

How glad the Eskimos were to see us ! And how gen- 
erous with everything! Koo-la-ting-wa was our genial 
host. Nothing in his well-stocked larder was too good 
for his white friends, or too old. He harnessed his dogs 
and bounded away into the moonlight. Within a half- 
hour his sledge stood before our door loaded with 
frozen murres {Uria lomvia lomvia) and fetid seal, a part 
of the harvest of summer months. Although the birds 
were not exactly fresh, having been packed away un- 
cleaned and warm in sealskin bags five months previous, 
they were banquet food to these uncritical northern 
gourmands. 

After our evening meal, Peter, the Dane, discoursed 
long and eloquently upon the merits of socialism. The 



1915] TO UPERNAVIK AND BACK 127 

old year went out; the new year came in, and socialism 
still reigned. I may add that Freuchen has definitely 
renounced civilization as being unfit for man. He has 
married an Eskimo girl and has settled down for life 
at the top of the world among ideal socialists. 

Our dogs raced over a beautiful sledging surface to 
Cape York in seven hours, where we found three igloos 
occupied by three very prominent men of the tribe, all 
valuable assistants to Peary in times past — My-ah, 
Ahng-ma-lock-to, and Ahng-o-do-blah-o. The last is 
universally acknowledged to be the greatest hunter in 
the Smith Sound tribe. We feasted on raw polar bear — 
delicious! and our dogs were filled to repletion. Hap- 
piness and contentment reigned in and out of the igloo. 

Three of my dogs, unfit for the long trip, were left at 
this settlement to await my return. Three more were 
secured for Tanquary, thus completing his team; he 
drove them exceptionally well, considering that this was 
his first experience. 

Kikertak (Salvo Island), a few miles east, was our 
next stopping-place. Here lived Oo-bloo-ya (Star) and 
his wife, Ka-sah-do, who illustrates well how an 
ethnologist, through a misunderstanding of the language, 
may arrive at a too hasty conclusion. 

Ka-sah-do has had a very trying experience. Some 
years ago she and her three children were starving. 
They were so hungry that one of her breasts was almost 
destroyed by their teeth. She finally resorted to the 
expedient of slitting the ends of her fingers, thus per- 
mitting them to suck her blood. To-day the in- 
jured breast is gone, the other is prominent. The 
scientist in question, upon seeing the mother seated 
upon the right of the igloo as one enters, and the child 



128 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Jan. 

nursing from the right breast, concluded that the left 
had atrophied through disuse, it being inconvenient for 
the mother to feed her child from the "inside"! This 
was published and accepted as gospel, if not scientific, 
truth. 

Oo-bloo-ya was not to be outdone in hospitality by 
our previous hosts. A new and strange dish awaited 
our ever-ready appetites, sharpened by healthy work 
and strengthened by the purest of air. What resembled 
in outward appearances a fat frozen seal was squeezed 
through the small circular entrance in the floor. With 
a sharp knife a slit, about one foot in length, was made 
in the belly. The man of the house rolled back his 
sleeve, plunged his arm in to the elbow, and withdrew 
it, smeared with grease and clutching black strips of 
meat. "Sausages packed in lard, same idea!" said I to 
myself. Strips of sun-dried narwhal packed in narwhal 
oil! Was anything ever better! Long we ate, and 
swelled and slept, and ate again, and praised and 
thanked our host for his well-stocked larder. 

Now that the village feasts were over, our retinue 
of camp-followers turned toward the north with other 
overflowing caches as their objective points. The re- 
port came to us from a near-by igloo that faithful E-took- 
a-shoo, our best man, was ill. This would never do. 
Clean grit from the soles of his sealskin kamiks to the 
hood of his sealskin netcha, I knew that he would go 
if he could wiggle his eyelash. Within a few minutes our 
sledge stood harnessed before his door. 

"Yes," he grinned, "I am all right." 

Here I had my first misgivings as to the probable 
success of Freuchen's plans, if he had made any, which 
I now doubt. Possibly familiarity with conditions had 



1915] TO UPERNAVIK AND BACK 129 

bred contempt. He had negotiated the trip six times. 
The distance from Cape York across Melville Bay to 
Cape Seddon is 170 miles. This he planned to negotiate 
in three marches, which could easily be done with good 
going, no leads, and clear weather. He certainly de- 
pended upon such ideal conditions, as the amount of 
dog food upon our sledges and the nature of his equip- 
ment showed. We each had one seal — two meals for 
our dogs. I had no sleeping-bag. He had no compass. 
I quote from my diary verbatim to show the inevi- 
table result of a poorly planned Arctic trip and some- 
thing of the dangers of crossing Melville Bay in the 
depths of winter: 

January 4-th, Monday. — To-night we are encamped on the ice, 
sleeping out; there is no snow suitable for a snow house. Every 
one pretty well iced up. Should judge it to be about forty below. 

January 5th, Tuesday. — A succession of old ice, young ice, and 
open leads. 

There must be a lot of open water somewhere. The bay is fuU 
of mist, obscuring the moon and cutting off our view shoreward. 
Only a short march. We cannot see where we are going. 

Jamiary 6th, Wednesday. — Darkness and mist have again com- 
pelled us to stop with a short march to our credit. Wind is from 
what I judge to be southeast, and looks like snow. Still sleeping 
out; no suitable snow for an igloo. 

January 7th, Thursday. — Blowing and snowing, but traveling 
much preferable to sitting on our sledges without shelter. Have 
been going in what we think is the right direction. We are to- 
night in the shelter of a very large berg. Shall remain here until the 
weather clears. 

Henrick has left a bag of biscuit somewhere on the trail; rather 
a serious loss, as we have not many. Only one more feed for our 
dogs. 

Very cold to-night. Am sleeping without shelter or a sleeping- 
bag. 

January 8th, Friday. — Weather cleared during the night, a brill- 
iant moonlight, giving us a good view of land. Thinking possibly 



130 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Jan. 

it might be "Took-too-lik-suah" (Gape Seddon), we are headed in 
toward it. 

The snow has deepened, and as I am the only one who has snow- 
shoes, have been out in advance nearly all day. Should reach land 
to-morrow. Dogs very weak. 

January 9th, Saturday. — We have reached something, but no one 
knows what, after eighteen hours of driving over sea ice in an easter- 
ly direction, or perhaps more to the northeast. Although Peter has 
been up and down the coast six times, he is unable to recognize the 
spot. 

Henrick (a half-breed from South Greenland) is sick. He com- 
plained so much this morning that we put him in his sleeping-bag 
and lashed him to liis sledge; and in this way he has ridden all day, 
we driving his dogs. He thinks that we are at Took-too-lik-suah, 
but Peter and E-took-a-shoo are in doubt. There is a heavy mist 
obscuring everything. 

We have our first snow house to-night, having slept in the open 
five nights, and it seems like a home. Our last dog food is gone, 
and also all our meat, leaving us only a few biscuit. 

January 10th, Sunday. — This morning it was as thick as mud and 
twice as black. We didn't know what to do, but finally decided 
that we could not go far wrong if we followed the edge of the land 
to the southeast. This is where we made a mistake and should 
have remained in camp. The land here trended to the northeast 
when our course should have been southeast. 

After marching for some six hours through soft snow, we 
headed for what we thought was an iceberg, a low black line on the 
horizon. To our surprise, a nearer view proved it to be an island 
with a big black cave in the side of it. Upon examination we found 
the cave to be the vertical face of a cliff. How deceptive things are 
in the dark! In trying to examine tliis I broke through thin ice, 
filling both boots with water. 

Off the point of Took-too-lik-suah, our objective point, there 
is an island. Thinking that possibly this might be it, Peter started 
west along the shore on a reconnaissance, while I started up over 
the top. After some laborious work I reached what I judged must 
be the summit, only to find, upon going on, there was a higher and 
a higher one with no apparent end. I was trying to cross Greenland 
in one night! 

Upon Peter reporting that there seemed to be no limit to his 
shore-line, we constructed an igloo — a half-dugout affair — and have 
decided not to move until we know where we are. Henrick has now 
lost a can of oil, which doubles our difficulties. Our mittens and 



1915] TO UPERNAVIK AND BACK 131 

boots are very wet. If we can't dry them, frozen hands and feet 
are the inevitable result. With no food, and no knowledge of where 
we are, this could easily develop into a serious affair. 

January 11th, Monday. — Henrick and Peter were both sick during 
the night, the former coughing and spitting and breathing with 
difficulty, the latter bleeding at the nose. 

It cleared up a bit this morning, giving us a fair view of our sur- 
roundings. We are in a deep bay filled with islands and inclosed by 
high hills. 

Peter and Henrick try to encourage us by declaring that we are 
on the back side of the cape. 

^ P.M. — Leaving our dugout this morning, we drove around the 
cape and well up the south side, hoping to find the igloos. We can 
see nothing; therefore have constructed another igloo. 

When coming in here at 5.30 p.m. we headed toward the constella- 
tion Pleiades, which must be in the east at this time of day. 

Dogs are very hungry and are beginning to eat their traces. Every 
night a few get loose and eat up everything and anything in sight. 

January 12th, Tuesday. — Much to our relief, the mist lifted this 
morning, giving us a good view to the south. The point of land in 
the distance, perhaps twenty-five miles away, they all agree is our 
will-o'-the-wisp. 

We started toward it at once, I leading the way on snow-shoes. 
About noon the weather thickened again, leaving us nothing but a 
few stars by which to direct our course. The Great Square of Pegasus 
I knew to be in the south at four or five o'clock in the afternoon; 
therefore directed our course to the left of that. 

We at last reached what we concluded in the darkness must be 
the cape — a long, high ridge. Upon a close examination this proved 
to be a huge iceberg with numerous pressure ridges. We were all 
plainly disappointed, especially in view of the fact that there was 
no snow for a snow house and a light, cold wind blowing. 

Getting into the ice for shelter, we made tea and ate our mouthful 
of biscuit. 

To save our harnesses from destruction, we removed them from 
the dogs and brought them into an inclosure of five sledges. In 
constructing this, it looked for all the world as if we were preparing 
for an encounter with Indians. 

No sooner had the boys got into their sleeping-bags and I under 
a piece of musk-ox robe, when fifty dogs made a rush. 

"Dey are eating my head!" yelled Peter. 

*'They are pulling me off the sledge!" cried Henrick, in Eskimo. 

Seizing a whip, I drove the dogs to a distance and lay down again. 



132 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Jan. 

But within a few minutes there was another raid upon harnesses, sledge 
lashings, and all skins in sight. To sleep was impossible; therefore 
with wlxip in hand all night I dozed, and walked, and struck, guarding 
what might be our life; for if harnesses were eaten and lashings 
bitten from our sledges travel would be impossible in this deep snow 
with only one pair of snow-shoes. 

January 13th, Wednesday. — This morning we found it blowing 
and snowing. Knowing by the feel that it must be a southerly wind, 
we left camp with the wind in our faces, hoping to reach something, 
at least an iceberg, where there might be snow for a snow house. 

We have plodded on through deep snow all day, slightly varying 
our course now and then, suspecting that the wind was changing 
to the southwest. 

The surface has been absolutely level — not a crack, not a press- 
ure ridge, not an iceberg. Were we out to sea or in one of the 
deep bays? No one knew. Upon my asking each one in which 
direction he judged the course to be or Cape Seddon to lie, no two 
agreed. One would have us head out into the middle of Smith 
Sound, one back toward Cape York, one toward the south, and two 
east. 

We turned at right angles to our course and headed toward what 
I thought must be land. Gradually the pace grew slower and 
slower, and finally all sledges stopped. We were all plainly tired and 
lacked stamina. We have had no meat now for a week, and only 
about four ounces of biscuit a day (one-eighth of a ration), with tea 
and coffee strong enough to kill a Nascaupee Indian. 

Each man dropped on his sledge; then lying in the snow, with 
backs against our sledges for shelter, we dropped off to sleep. 

Awaking an hour later, somewhat chilled, I called all the men 
and advised that we construct some kind of a house from our sledges, 
which we have done by turning them over and covering them with 
skins as a protection against the snow, which is now falling rapidly. 

Each man is standing a three-hour watch against the dogs armed 
with a whip. 

January IJfth, Thursday. — Snow falling all day and very dark. 
We are down to dog meat. Have killed three to-day, cooking one 
for ourselves and feeding two to the pack. The dead had hardly 
finished breathing when they were literally gobbled up. 

The dogs are getting weak. Two of Tanquary's dropped yester- 
day in harness; one got away and started back on the trail. The 
poor thing has visions of food somewhere in the north. May he 
reach it! 

All our biscuit are gone. The outlook from now on was dog 



1915] TO UPERNAVIK AND BACK 133 

meat alone until Henrick happened to remember that some one was 
sending by mail two pounds of biscuit and a few ounces of sugar to 
her sister in Upernavik. We all agreed that this should be used in 
case of an emergency; therefore out it came and has disappeared. 

Another night on watch with the whip to save harnesses and 
sledges. Our dogs will furnish soup for some time; there is hardly 
enough meat on them for anything else. 

January 15th, Friday. — Here we are in a warm igloo surrounded 
with plenty of bear and seal meat after a hard day but with a good 
finish. 

At five o'clock on the morning of the 15th the watch 
awoke us with the good news that it was as clear as 
a bell and Took-too-lik-suah only ten miles away. Tea 
was made quickly (the only thing we had), everything 
was packed, and away we went through deep snow, all 
anxiety thrown to the four winds. 

It was a long, hard pull to land, for neither dogs nor 
men were any too strong. A long, low point trended 
well toward the southwest and we followed this closely 
for several miles. When nearly to the end of the point 
and leading the sledges on snow-shoes, I had the mis- 
fortune to break through thin ice up to my breast, 
catching myself on my outstretched arms, and thus 
avoiding a much-needed bath. But with the tempera- 
ture at forty below, I was glad to forego that luxury 
until a later and more comfortable date. Well warmed 
by walking, such an accident does not begin to entail 
as much suffering as one imagines. Clothed in skins, 
although wet, they are still a protection to the body, 
for they continue to be impervious to the wind. Clothed 
in woolens, one would soon succumb in low temperatures. 

Here we decided to throw off everything from our 
sledges and make a dash for the two Eskimo igloos. In 
fifteen or twenty minutes Nigger, my black dog, run- 
ning loose, found a trail. He lifted his tail and quickened 



134 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Jan. 

his pace, my dogs straining to keep up with him. As 
he arrived at the depth of a bend, he disappeared up 
over the top of the cape on the dead run; and then 
came that prolonged howl of welcome from the pack 
tethered near the houses, a howl which was a welcome, 
a curfew, and a dinner-bell combined. 

Our tired dogs, with drooping tails and drooping ears, 
were now rejuvenated and almost prancing as they 
swung around the point and headed toward the lighted 
holes in the snow. 

With as much agility as my frozen clothes would i>er- 
mit, I made my way along the covered passage and 
stuck my head up through the hole in the floor. The 
lord and lady of the household were evidently just 
awakened by the chorus of welcome now in full cres- 
cendo. To the bulging, bhnking eyes of the Eskimo, 
the dirty-faced, full-whiskered object at the entrance 
was his conception of the devil himself. He had come 
at last! He and his fathers and forefathers had often 
heard of him, but had never seen him. 

I have never beheld abject fear so fully depicted 
upon the countenance of man. Before I could smile 
(which might have finished him), his wife recognized 
me, which is a distinct compliment to her intelligence. 
Ek-kai-a-sha, or "Bill," was one of our Eskimos upon 
the S.S. Roosevelt on the North Pole trip. When a 
little girl she had even spent a year at Washington, 
D. C, with Mrs. Peary. 

The look on Mee-tak's face instantly changed to a 
grin as he watched me struggling to remove my wet 
bearskin pants and sealskin boots. My! but it was 
warm and comfortable. No more shivering and shak- 
ing on four ounces a day! 



1915] TO UPERNAVIK AND BACK 135 

Maurice Cole Tanquary, Ph.D., soon arrived and 
forthwith fell to devouring raw bear meat like the wild- 
est aborigine. Dog, bear, narwhal, caribou, seal, all 
raw, were graciously and thankfully received and 
thoroughly enjoyed. We remained there for eight days, 
eating and sleeping and resting and perceptibly swelling. 

Tanquary had been an ideal traveling companion; 
he possessed an even temperament, never got excited, 
was always in good humor, and seemed by far the 
healthiest man in the Crocker Land personnel. Thus 
far he had withstood the trip admirably. 

Our dogs.^ They ate and slept, then ate again. 
They consumed thirty seals one after the other. Their 
tails curled, their ears became erect, their eyes grew 
bright. They jumped to their feet, wagged their great 
heads, and uttered that deep growl so expressive of the 
real joy of living. 

During our sojourn here the daily conversation of the 
gathered Eskimos teemed with interest and information. 
It appears that the whole coast-line from Cape York 
to Upernavik is dotted with old Eskimo igloos and 
tupik rings which show a distinct connection and close 
relationship between North and South Greenland tribes. 
How often have I read in connection with the Smith 
Sound natives, "Cut off from the south by the dreaded 
Melville Bay"! They have never been cut off. In the 
past, as to-day, sledges travel the whole stretch with 
nothing to fear. 

We were greatly interested in a twelve-year-old boy 
at this igloo by the name of Kop-a-noo (Snow-bunting). 
Some years ago he and his mother were starving. It is 
customary in such circumstances to kill a small child 
rather than permit it to suffer. She, however, con- 



136 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Jan. 

eluded to let him fight for his life, outside with the dogs, 
by eating dung and refuse. This he succeeded in doing, 
scouring the hills for rabbit-droppings and whatever he 
could snatch from the dogs. His head is covered with 
scars inflicted in his struggles about the door for what- 
ever was thrown from the entrance. 

In the mail-pouch going south was a letter to the 
American Museum requesting that a ship should be 
sent in 1915 to transport the Crocker Land Expedition 
back to civilization, according to our agreement, in case 
Crocker Land failed to exist. I now placed two other 
letters, one to the Museum, stating that I would remain 
another year in the Arctic alone and independent of 
help from the Museum; and the other to my friend, 
M. J. Look, of Kingston, New York, requesting that he 
should send me provisions in case the Museum failed 
to do so. 

It was now so late in the year that, should I go on 
.md be delayed in returning, all our plans for spring work 
would be jeopardized. Ekblaw's plans, which I had 
promised to aid in every way, must be carried out. 
It was his wish to study the geology of Ellesmere and 
Axel Heiberg Lands and thereby solve some very im- 
portant scientific questions. His route, as projected, 
lay across Smith Sound to the head of Flagler Bay; 
thence over the heights of Ellesmere Land to Bay Fiord; 
up Eureka Sound to the Greely Fiord; and on to the 
Lake Hazen region in Grant Land; then returning via 
Fort Conger, Kennedy Channel, and the Kane Basin. 
By going back now and putting my dogs in condition, 
I would be able to furnish him with a good team, even 
though Tanquary should fail to arrive with the dogs 
ordered from southern ports. 



1915] TO UPERNAVIK AND BACK 137 

Tanquary, Freuchen, and Henrick left for the south 
on the 22d, the first with instructions to proceed with 
the mail to Upernavik, secure twenty dogs and other 
articles ordered, and then return to Etah as quickly 
as possible. E-took-a-shoo and I headed north across 
Melville Bay for a quick run up the coast, with nothing 
on our sledges but frozen narwhal meat, a gallon of 
oil, and a little tea. 

Our dogs, following their long rest, were very stiff 
and demanded constant exertion of whip and voice. 
We made camp at the end of fifteen miles, fortu- 
nate in finding snow suitable for building purposes. 
A strong wind the following day caused us to appre- 
ciate our snug little home even more than on the 
night before. 

A good twenty-eight miles were placed to our credit 
on the 24th, heading at the end of the march toward a 
large berg, where we hoped to find snow suitable for a 
house. In this we were disappointed. A hasty meal 
of tea and raw frozen narwhal; then back to back, a 
few deep breaths, and we were off to the land of our 
dreams — E-took-a-shoo to hills abounding in game, and 
I to the sunny Southland. 

Our dogs were in a surprisingly good condition, con- 
sidering what they had been through and the amount 
of food they had received while running us across Mel- 
ville Bay in four marches. I am convinced that with 
good going this journey can easily be done in three, 
because we lost much time in following a lead of young 
ice far to the northeast. 

Once more we enjoyed the hospitality of genial 
Ahng-o-da-blah-o. Here we were filled to repletion, 
for he served bear, narwhal-skin, little auks, seal, tea. 



138 POUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Feb. 

coffee, sugar, milk (!!!), and biscuit. With such a bill 
of fare, I did not care whether I moved or not. E-took- 
a-shoo didn't for several hours. 

The time came for us to leave these good friends. 
The nearest settlement was a hundred miles away, the 
Eskimos having gone north from Ak-bat. Could we 
make it in one march .f* It was full moonlight and fifty 
below; not a breath of wind. The road was as hard 
as iron and flat as a floor. Ideal conditions! Our dogs 
were rested and well fed. Their little legs worked for 
eighteen hours. Up to within five miles of home not 
. a trace had slacked, not a tail had lost its curl. Whitey, 
the hardest and most faithful puller in the team, stag- 
gered and fell. I stroked her head, slipped her harness, 
and left her lying on the trail. I watched her a long 
time, a receding dot in the fading trail, until she merged 
into the night. In the morning she was curled up with 
the team. She is with me now as I write. For her the 
long white trail is over. The others fairly dashed into 
Umanak, every one strong to the last and roady for 
more. Faithful, magnificent animals! They will live 
with me always! 

There was no dog food here, which prompted us to 
move right on, following a one day's rest for our dogs. 
Where we were to get our next food we did not know. 
It looked like another starvation period for our dogs 
until we could reach the big spring encampment of the 
Eskimos at Nerky and Peteravik, where a hundred 
natives are often to be found hunting walrus in the open 
water far offshore. 

The sea ice at Cape Parry was so completely gone and 
the ice-foot so impassable that, after a cursory examina- 
tion, we walked back to our sledges. To go up over the 



1915] TO UPERNAVIK AND BACK 139 

cape was our only recourse. We must go on; there was 
no food behind. 

We were about to turn back when I suggested to 
E-took-a-shoo and other Eskimos, who were proceeding 
northward for meat, that we again examine the ice- 
foot. We conchided that with a Httle hard work a 
passage might be accomphshed. Unhitching the 
dogs, we Kfted each sledge bodily up over and 
through that chaotic mass of sea ice pressed high 
against the cliff. Arduous work, but preferable to 
returning and then ascending to the summit of Cape 
Parry. 

Once around, a heavy wind and drift drove us into a 
snow house for shelter. Through the driving snow we 
could see a black, smoking band of water extending 
across our path and blocking our way to the westward. 
"How far north does that thing run.^*" was the all- 
important question as we drank our black, sweetless tea, 
and chewed strips of dried narwhal. 

The first man up in the morning reported clear 
weather and the lead extending only a few miles. The 
dogs were now ravenous, not having been fed since 
we left Cape York, 150 miles to the south. Every cor- 
ner must be cut and every chance taken. E-took-a-shoo 
and I directed our course straight westward toward the 
edge of open water; Ak-pood-a-shah-o and Ihrlli hugged 
the shore for safety. Skirting the edge of open water, 
we gained the strait between Herbert and Northum- 
berland Islands, and here became confused in the 
darkness and the extremely rough ice caused by the 
swirling tides and currents of this section, which is recog- 
nized as one of the most dangerous on the coast. While 
we were endeavoring to effect a passage here, we were 

10 



140 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Feb. 

joined by the other two sledges, which had crossed 
the Sound far to the north. 

At length we emerged from a maze of bergs, holes, and 
snowbanks, and concluded to make camp on the west- 
ern shore of Northumberland Island. All harnesses were 
removed from the dogs; coats, boots, whips, skins were 
taken into the igloo; and the sledges were stacked up 
against the cliff out of reach of the starving dogs. If 
the weather permitted, they would be fed at our next 
station, forty miles away. Five days of hard work, and 
on one of those days covering a hundred miles, is quite 
enough to give a dog an appetite. 

We were off in the morning, determined to make our 
distance. That march in the moonlight across the great 
white expanse of sea ice between Northumberland 
Island and Cape Chalon (Peteravik) stands out promi- 
nently in my memories of five years of Arctic work. We 
drove from behind with whip and voice; I mingled with 
my dogs and cheered them on; then I rushed far out 
ahead, to whistle and call. I resorted to every expedi- 
ent to place another mile under our feet. The tired, 
weakened dogs, with drooping heads and straight tails, 
plodded wearily on, the perfectly empty sledge crawling 
at a snail's pace behind them. 

Gradually all the sledges dropped into the gray light 
far in the rear; I was alone. I held the course steadily 
toward black-striped Cape Chalon. There the Eski- 
mos were in camp and must have meat. Fearful lest I 
might miss the igloos in the dark, the dogs were directed 
toward the front of the Clements Markham Glacier 
with the intention of following closely the shore north- 
ward. 

The jaded dogs smelled home long before the lighted 



1915] TO UPERNAVIK AND BACK 141 

skin window burst into view. Tails and ears came up, 
the pace quickened; and then came that glad short 
dash over the tidal crack through the broken shore ice 
to the level ice-foot. 

In addition to the two rock igloos occupied by Sipsoo 
and Oo-quee-a there were three snow houses in which 
were Panikpa, Ak-kom-mo-ding-wa, and Ka-shung-wa. 
My dogs had dropped to sleep, as usual, each one a furry 
ball, never barking, begging, or whining for food. Panik- 
pa started toward them with the frozen hind leg of a 
walrus, planning to chop it up and feed them piece by 
piece. The old king-dog became dimly conscious of 
the fact that something was coming, and jumped to his 
feet. In a flash his half-awakened team-mates stood 
beside him, as stiff as statues. When that incredulity 
turned to conviction, the positiveness that at last food 
was near, together with the medley of yelps came ar 
mighty leap, tearing the hitching-strap from its ice 
fastening, and an overpowering rush. Panikpa, the 
meat, and the dogs were a pulling, tugging, snarling black 
mass. It was some minutes, and then only with con- 
siderable difficulty, before the three could be differen- 
tiated, and this was only accomplished by dragging the 
meat toward the hole in the ice, where the dogs were 
refastened and fed. 

E-took-a-shoo arrived in about an hour. The other 
two sledges had given up and had gone in toward Nerky. 

While we were resting our dogs here on February 
6th, two of my Eskimos constructed one of the largest 
snow houses which I have ever seen. It was twelve feet 
in diameter and eight in height. It was my intention, 
after driving to Etah, to return here, join in the walrus- 
hunt, and put my dogs in condition for Ekblaw. 



142 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Feb. 

On the 7th we started for Etah and encountered the 
usual strong wind and smothering drift on the glacier. 
When at last I reached Borup Lodge I learned that 
Green and Allen were both under the doctor's care, the 
former in bed, a complete breakdown following a futile 
attempt to advance a depot of supplies for our spring 
trip. Green had attempted Arctic work contrary to the 
advice of his physician. Thus far his enthusiasm had 
held him to his work; but when homesickness replaced 
enthusiasm, then the natural result followed. 



VIII 

TO RENSSELAER HARBOR 

THE carrying out of our plans for spring work dur- 
ing 1915 depended largely upon the date of Tan- 
quary's arrival and upon the condition of the purchased 
dogs. If dogs and Eskimos could be secured, it was my 
desire to send Ekblaw to Grant Land by way of Eureka 
Sound, as he had planned; Tanquary to the Lake 
Hazen region as a supporting party to Ekblaw by way 
of Kane Basin and Kennedy Channel; Hunt to the 
Peary Channel with Freuchen; while I would go to 
King Christian Island far to the west. 

I considered Ekblaw's trip the most important of all, 
and was ready and willing to sacrifice all the others, 
if need be, in order that it might be carried out. 

On February 12th Doctor Hunt left with Oo-bloo-ya 
in response to a hurry-up call from sick Eskimos at 
Peteravik. An influenza of some kind or other was 
raging up and down the coast, resulting in a few cases 
of pneumonia, which carried off Kud-la in a few days. 
Fright was about as harmful as the disease. The doctor 
returned on the 15th and reported all the Eskimos much 
better and well supplied with meat. He at once began 
preparations for his ice-cap trip. Mene, the New York 
Eskimo, arrived with Doctor Hunt and was very re- 



144 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mar. 

pentant over his failure of the year before. He urgently 
requested that he be given another trial and be per- 
mitted to accompany Hunt to the Peary Channel. 

On the 14th, to reassure Ekblaw of the certainty of 
his trip, about which he had been worrying consider- 
ably, I turned over to him all my dogs and gave him a 
free hand to help himself to any or all of the equipment 
and supplies of the expedition. He left on the 16th for 
the south to visit Eskimos and improve the condition 
of his dogs at Peteravik. 

Encouraged by the daily glow of light along the sum- 
mit of our thousand-foot hills to the south, I walked to 
the top of Thermometer Hill, 1,100 feet above the sea, 
for a first view of the 1915 sun. There it was, just 
above Cape Alexander, after its long absence of 126 
days, partly obscured in the mist rising from the open 
water south. In a few days now it would be streaming 
into our front windows. 

Upon the arrival of Ekblaw, Ah-now-ka, and I-o- 
pung-ya on the 26th we learned that very few walrus 
had been killed by the Eskimos and that the dogs were 
starving all along the line — not an encouraging report, 
and one which prompted me to drive down at once with 
sledge loaded with trading material, hoping to condition 
all the dogs that were scheduled to start on the western 
trip in March with Ekblaw and his men. Forty below, 
a keen wind, and a very slippery southern slope on the 
glacier added to the interest and excitement of the jour- 
ney. Neither the dogs nor the men could keep their 
feet, resulting in a grand mix-up, and the unmixing called 
for patience in the superlative degree. 

Upon my arrival at Peteravik, to my surprise I found 
E-took-a-shoo and E-say-oo, the two men engaged to 



1915] TO RENSSELAER HARBOR 145 

go with Ekblaw, very much discouraged over the con- 
dition of their dogs; they didn't think they could take 
the trip. Upon my suggestion that they permit their 
dogs to rest for a week or so, promising to trade for and 
provide meat, they felt better and agreed to start on 
schedule time. 

The Eskimos gather here every spring after they have 
used up all their cached meat, to hunt walrus and 
bearded seal in the open water offshore. It is the great 
annual picnic of the tribe, where stories of the hunt are 
told and retold by the long, black-haired warriors; 
where the latest gossip is punctuated with sly winks and 
bursts of laughter from the chewing women; where 
games are played and stunts performed by red-cheeked, 
foxskin-clad, laughing children. 

It was between forty and fifty below for ten days, 
and yet the children laughed and played, apparently as 
unconcerned as our children upon a summer day. When 
meat is plentiful I can imagine this to be by far the 
happiest time of the year, and I can see them reluc- 
tantly packing their sledges in April to separate, per- 
haps for the year, for their respective homes a hundred 
miles apart; and to remain separated until hunger again 
brings them to Peter avik. 

Every favorable day found the men and boys far out 
at the edge of the ice, watching the surface of the 
black, smoking leads, ready to battle royally for rich, 
red meat. Great, fierce-looking heads break the sur- 
face, the powerful ivory-white tusks standing out in 
strong contrast against the massive black necks. The 
fur-clad hunters, with harpoons tightly gripped in their 
right hands and coils of rawhide lines in their left, whis- 
per excitedly, crouch, and emit, in imitation, the dis- 



146 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mar. 

cordant deep grunt of the walrus. The heads turn at 
the familiar cry, rise slightly out of water, dive, and 
with vigorous strokes boldly proceed toward the dark 
mass at the edge of the ice. As the heads break water 
again there is a swish of flying harpoons and trailing 
line. An angry snort and a mighty splash! Quickly the 
iron-pointed "toque" is driven deep into the ice through 
a loop in the end of the harpoon line, and then the 
struggle begins, a battle which sometimes lasts for hours ! 
How about your twenty-pound salmon on an eight-ounce 
rod.f^ We have here a two-thousand-pound bunch of 
plunging muscle on a quarter-inch singing, humming, 
twanging rawhide line! And not for pure sport is the 
struggle waged, but often for the life of the starving dogs 
and for the very existence of the pinch-faced wife and 
children snuggled up for warmth in a snow house be- 
neath the cliffs. 

And even when the quarry has been secured and 
partly dismembered, there may come a hurried cry of 
warning, a dropping of the meat, a rush toward dogs 
and sledge, a snapping of whips, a race for life against 
a change of wind and a breaking up of the sea ice. 
Rushing from far offshore one day in the midst of an 
excited throng, I was astonished by the sudden break- 
ing up of ice and the tumultuous rising and falling of the 
different sections over a surface which a few minutes 
before had been so placid . Yes, it is a precarious existence 
which these polar children lead, but a glorious one! 
How much grander and nobler to fight the primeval 
elements of the Northland than the enervating diseases 
of the South! 

Meat came in very slowly. There were reports from 
Kee-et-tee of the Eskimos being compelled to eat their 



1915] TO RENSSELAER HARBOR 147 

dogs and burn their sledges. Pihlochto (a form of rabies) 
was in the pack, and the dogs were dying every day. 
There were also rumors of another strange disease 
lately arrived from South Greenland, with which the 
dogs sickened, "became weak and emaciated, staggered, 
and did not get up again." 

All the Eskimos agreed that this was the hardest 
year they had ever known. I saw my own plans and 
hopes dwindling to nothing. All now depended upon 
Tanquary and his new dogs, plodding northward from 
Upernavik. 

By the 16th Ekblaw's dogs were in splendid shape, 
full of life, jumping and tugging at their hitching- 
straps, which they had not left from the time of my 
arrival. Ak-pood-a-shah-o got away for Etah with a 
load of meat and a note to Ek, telling him to expect 
me in a few days. 

The cold weather had broken. The temperature had 
risen to twenty-three below zero. On the floor of our 
snow house it stood at just zero; at the level of my head 
when seated upon the bed platform it was fifty-three 
above, a temperature which was made possible through 
the skin lining of the house that retained the heat and 
shed all drip. 

On Thursday, March 18th, at six in the morning, 
there was a "Hello, Mac!" at the window. Tanquary 
had come at last — but with badly frosted feet. He was 
optimistic, as usual, declaring that he would be all 
right in ten days. One glance, however, at the frozen 
toes convinced me that he was through for a while. 
He followed my advice and left at once for Etah, in 
company with three Eskimos, where he could avail 
himself of the services of Doctor Hunt. 



148 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mar. 

The trip from Peteravik to Borup Lodge on Friday, 
March, 19th, driving fourteen dogs in the pink of con- 
dition, was, to say the least, exhilarating. In spite of 
the fact that my sledge was loaded heavily with walrus 
meat, the dogs went out of Peteravik like a whirlwind, 
and up the coast as if the evil spirit of the North were 
behind them. 

A beautiful day on the Crystal Palace Glacier — too 
good! What did it mean? I was soon to learn. My 
dogs, reaching the summit of the divide, leaped into 
their traces for a record run down to the sea. Having 
broken my whip, I yelled, pleaded, coaxed, and even 
whistled for them to stop. When about to slow down, 
my white bitch, snapped her trace and was off, with 
her big bushy tail waving good-by! Now there was 
no stopping the team. Clinging to the upstanders, braced 
back to the limit, with my feet firmly planted between 
the runners as a brake, we skimmed the surface, pitched 
down the sharp slope leading to the trough between 
the glacier and the cliff, and landed in a deep hole on a 
pile of rocks. Wearily and somewhat battered, I re- 
gained my feet and glared at the dogs innocently licking 
their feet. Then came a distant roar, the sound of 
E-took-a-shoo*s voice, and a swish, as leaping dogs, 
sledge, and a stocky form barely missed the hole and 
shot down the valley. A fine day on the glacier! 

A cutting wind and drift at the Crystal Palace Cliffs 
frosted the face of every man. The dogs, however, were 
in such fine condition that they did not need much 
urging, and kept the trail so admirably that we turned 
our backs and yielded to their guidance. 

Ekblaw and his six Eskimos finally got away at nine 
o'clock on March 24th. At six o'clock the party re- 



1915] TO RENSSELAER HARBOR 149 

turned because of violent winds and drift beyond Sun- 
rise Point. Another trial on the 25th resulted in a 
second return. The dogs could not face the drift. The 
party left finally and successfully on the evening of the 
26th, having waited impatiently through two whole 
days for wind and drift to subside. 

Two men were to return from the head of Bay Fiord, 
two from far up Eureka Sound, and two, E-took-a-shoo 
and E-say-oo, were to accompany Ekblaw for the whole 
distance. 

Tanquary was plainly out of the game. Hunt's 
plans depended upon the wishes of Freuchen; mine 
upon the condition of the dogs purchased by Tanquary 
and left at Nerky. Harnessing a few pups and cripples. 
Hunt and I started for Nerky and Peteravik on a 
reconnaissance. Fifty-nine Eskimos were assembled at 
the latter place, nearly one-quarter of the whole tribe, 
all driven from their home in southern villages by lack 
of food. Sledges were coming every day, reporting 
caches empty, and, because of the vast extent of the sea 
ice, game was scarce and difficult to secure. 

On the evening of the day of our arrival, Ah-we-gee-a 
drove in with the survivors of Tanquary 's team, fifteen 
out of twenty. Perambulating skeletons! How Tan- 
quary ever drove them from Upernavik to Cape York 
I do not know. All honor to Tank! Two were plainly 
dying; the others were far from optimistic. Meat was 
what they wanted, and this was given them, just as 
much as dog-biscuit, tobacco, and oil would buy. They 
gradually regained their strength, as was evidenced by 
the elastic step, the straightening of the hooped spine, 
the erect carriage of the body, and the wagging tails — 
they were dogs again. 



150 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [April 

The annual sickness, imported with the mail from 
the south every spring, was now prevalent; nearly all 
the Eskimos were vomiting and many had diarrhea — 
the heavy tax imposed upon the germ-free native in 
return for the comforts and luxuries of his white brother 
in the South. 

'Every morning these hardy hunters hitched their 
dogs to their sledges and headed out over an apparently 
interminable field of ice toward the open sea below the 
distant horizon. Eagerly the wives and children watched 
the whiteness for a returning black dot, which, as it 
approached, often developed into tired dogs and an 
empty-handed, frost-bitten driver, driven homeward by 
the bitter winds sweeping from the Greenland glaciers 
off toward the south. Or on a luckier day, the heavy 
load of frozen red meat would be met and escorted 
triumphantly into the snow settlement by a troop of 
stray dogs and expectant little ones. 

These men were struggling for existence under condi- 
tions which daily resulted in ice-stiffened traces, frozen 
boots, frozen mittens, scarred faces, and black hair 
turned snow-white with frost! I determined to go and 
see for myself how the struggle was carried on. On 
April 10th, Tung -we, Teddy - ling - wa, Mene, and I 
sledged to the edge of open water far to the south. 
And now not a track or crack or smallest hole escaped 
these ever-watchful, sharp eyes. The native finds meat 
and lives where you and I would see nothing and die. 
Tung-we, apparently as unobservant as myself, grabbed 
his seaHng-iron and coil of rawhide, sprang from his 
moving sledge, ran ten yards to the right, and half 
inclined his body over a two-inch hole in the surface 
of the ice. We held our course steadily in order to re- 



1915] TO RENSSELAER HARBOR 151 

move all scent from the immediate vicinity. Upon 
looking back at the end of a half-mile, we saw Tung-we 
raise his harpoon, plunge it downward, and struggle to 
check the rawhide line now slipping through his hands. 
We drove back at full speed to be in at the death, but 
before reaching it a hundred-pound seal {Phoca fcetida) 
lay wriggling upon the ice. He had returned to one of 
his many breathing-holes to be killed by the wary 
Tung-we. Only a mouthful for our forty-four dogs, but 
a very acceptable one, seeing that the Eskimos were to 
travel for sixteen hours, only stopping now and then 
to untangle the traces. On and on and out we went 
through broken ice, over thin ice, and along the edge 
of smoking, black leads. 

At midnight we hitched our dogs and proceeded on 
foot, listening and scanning the surface of every pool. 
At two o'clock we went back over extremely thin ice. 
At three the sun rose, a lurid, distorted ball mounting 
through the heavy vapor. A rest of two hours cuddled 
up in a cleft in the ice, hot tea, and then on again wear- 
ily and drowsily dogging the heels of those tireless 
hunters. 

At length a large walrus was discovered asleep on 
the rapidly moving drift ice some 300 yards away. I 
thought it was positive suicide to approach him over such 
a treacherous surface. Yet Mene and Teddy-ling-wa, 
without the slightest bit of hesitation, made their way 
from cake to cake, now and then carefully gliding across 
dark, bending ice, up to within twenty yards of the 
ponderous, sleeping bulk, and here they were blocked 
by an impassable stretch of water. We saw them now 
flat on their breasts with sighted rifles. Two sharp re- 
ports were followed by a tremendous splash as the 2,000 



152 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [April 

pounds of meat disappeared, to be lost beneath the 
surface. 

In the mean time Tung-we and I were following the 
moving mass of drift ice slowly along the edge of the 
unbroken field, very much concerned over the safety of 
the other two men. Gradually, the intervening black 
strip of water widened, cutting off their escape. To the 
south an iceberg, against the outer edge of which the 
moving field was crushing and grinding, might serve as 
a bridge. Running to the summit, we signaled the 
men to make their way to this point, which they reached 
after several narrow escapes, dripping with perspiration, 
both breaking through and filling their boots on the very 
last step. 

Within a few minutes after landing, a herd of ten 
walrus appeared on the surface, sixty yards away. In- 
stantly we all crouched and uttered the far-reaching, 
guttural cry with hands to mouth. "They are coming!" 
whispered Tung-we, grasping firmly harpoon and coil, 
and planting his feet solidly in the slippery ice. Run- 
ning backward to embrace the whole scene in the finder 
of my graflex camera, I awaited the climax. The action 
began with a swirl, followed by a mass of grim, ugly 
faces at the very feet of the hunters — so near, in fact, 
that the men, astounded, were caught unawares, de- 
layed action for a few seconds, and then excitedly hurled 
their harpoons. The harpoon of Tung-we plunged over 
their heads and backs; that of Mene stopped suddenly 
in mid-air and fell harmlessly flat down. Tung-we, dis- 
gusted and ashamed, expressed himself as befitting the 
occasion. Mene grinned sheepishly upon discovering 
that he was standing upon a flake of his coil. 

Hungry and sleepy, we reached land on the night of 



1915] TO RENSSELAER HARBOR 153 

the 12th with empty sledges, boots and mittens frozen, 
and traces a ball of ice. We had tried for thirty-six 
hours and had returned beaten — a common experience 
in the life of the Smith Sound hunter. 

On the 12th, Hunt, in training now for a bear-hunt 
in lieu of his abandoned ice-cap trip with Freuchen, 
started on a twenty-five-mile walk to Etah, sleeping 
with the Eskimos at Sulwuddy, ten miles away, the 
first night and covering the remaining distance on the 
second; he reached home about two hours previous to 
our arrival from Peteravik, which we had left with our 
dogs that morning. 

Our dogs were now in fair condition, and it was de- 
cided that Hunt should accompany his favorite Eskimo, 
Ak-pood-a-shah-o, to the musk-ox grounds beyond the 
heights of Ellesmere Land for specimens. Ah-now-ka 
and I would take a run up the Greenland coast in search 
of polar bears, usually found off the Humboldt Glacier 
in the spring of the year, searching in cracks in the 
ice and at the base of bergs for their natural food, the 
seal. We were off together on Sunday, April 18th. 
Rough ice, however, in the vicinity of Cape Ohlsen, so 
badly shattered Hunt's sledge that he was compelled 
to return to Etah with his Eskimo for a new one, while 
Ah-now-ka and I pitched our tent at Cape Ohlsen to 
await their return on the morrow. 

Both parties proceeded northward again in the 
morning, and called at Littleton Island for a cache of 
eider-duck eggs left there the preceding June. The 
sea ice north of the Polarises winter quarters near Life 
Boat Cove was extremely rough, resulting in very slow 
progress to Ka-mowitz, our usual first camping-place. 
In the morning we bade good-by to the western party, 



154 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [April 

which, headed due west out over the ice of Smith Sound, 
while we proceeded northward, following the ice-foot 
closely, stopping at night for two hare and a ptarmigan 
which we saw on the hillside. 

From Force Bay northward the ice-foot along this 
coast is truly a revelation. I have never seen anything 
like it anywhere else in the Arctic regions. Kane, in his 
narrative, often speaks of the ice-foot in the vicinity 
of his winter quarters, but does not begin to describe its 
wonders or the tremendous advantages which it offers 
for rapid travel. 

The formation of this so-called ice-foot or ice-collar, 
even in our best and latest text-books, is inaccurately 
described. Snow has no part whatever in its building. 
After it is once formed, falling and drifting snow may 
lodge thereon and add to its apparent bulk. The ice- 
foot proper, however, never exceeds in height that of 
the highest tide, and it is slowly built up from low- 
water mark by accretion, each receding tide leaving 
its congealed deposit. An ice-foot may form in the 
same way on the perfectly vertical face of a cliff where 
snow could not possibly lodge. And in the same fashion 
it may furnish passing sledges with a good but often 
dangerous highway. 

The width of an ice-foot depends entirely upon the 
angle of the slope from high-water to low-water mark, 
varying from the narrow ledge clinging to the vertical 
face of a cliff to the broad marge resting upon a gently 
sloping beach, often 200 yards in width and as smooth 
and level as a floor. The last is descriptive of what is 
to be encountered all along that northern shore from 
Force Bay to the Humboldt Glacier, contrary to what 
one would expect to find beneath the almost vertical 



1915] TO RENSSELAER HARBOR 155 

cliffs, 500 feet in height, that mark the abrupt termina- 
tion of the plateau which stretches back for twenty or 
thirty miles to the edge of the Greenland ice-cap. 

These stratified cliffs are highly interesting in their 
massiveness, in their gradation and variation of color, 
and in their outstanding, towering pillars formed by 
weathering. This is the locality of the famous Tenny- 
son Monument, so named by Kane in 1853. Long and 
diligent search, however, failed to discover it, but we 
found others equally as interesting and remarkable in 
shape. 

Although he was only a young boy, I depended upon 
Ah-now-ka and his trusty rifle for fresh meat for our- 
selves and dogs. We descried our first seal on the ice 
on April 21st. This he failed to secure because of the 
impatience of his dogs, which resulted in a rush forward 
and the consequent disappearance of the seal. 

The first evidence of the Doctor Kane party was 
seen at Cape Inglefield; it consisted of three cairns 
and a circular wall which the boy informed me had 
been built by white men many, many years ago. Later, 
other cairns were found all the way from Rensselaer 
Harbor up to Cape Scott. We saw only one fresh bear 
track during our short trip; we followed it for several 
hours but without result. 

At a point about ten miles beyond Cape Leiper we 
left a cache of food in anticipation of a future trip, and 
started back down the coast for Anoritok. We found 
the ground of this settlement littered with c idene of 
civilized man — an old cook-stove, rubber hose, a barrel, 
pots, buckles, hinges, leather, bottles, and other rub- 
bish. An unusually large number of old Eskimo igloos, 

eight in all, indicated that this was at one time a thriv- 
11 



156 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [May 

ing and prosperous village. Facing to the southwest 
and protected by high hills from the cold northerly 
winds, it offers a delightful spot for a settlement, for 
in summer the grass must be long and green, the air 
warm and sunny, and the waters teeming with life. 

We reached Borup Lodge on the 28th of April, and 
learned that Arklio and Noo-ka-ping-wa, Ekblaw's first 
supporting party, had returned, each having killed a 
bear and many musk-oxen. Letters from Ekblaw in- 
formed us that all was well thus far and that they were 
proceeding north through Eureka Sound. The three 
sledge tracks which we noticed on our return as go- 
ing north proved to be those of Mene, Kai-6-ta, and 
I-o-pung-ya on their way across Smith Sound to the 
hunting-grounds of Ellesmere Land. 

On Monday, May 3d, Allen, Tanquary, and Green 
began counting the days before the ship would arrive, 
sure indication of a longing for the homeland. "Ninety- 
one more!" was the count on that day, but the ninety- 
one doubled and trebled many times before they reached 
home. 

On Friday, May 7th, Arklio, Ah-now-ka, and I were 
off again into the north for bears and a visit to Rens- 
selaer Harbor, Kane's winter quarters of 1853-55. Re- 
membering the assertion in Doctor Kane's book that the 
distance from Etah to Rensselaer Harbor is ninety 
miles, I could scarcely credit Arklio's statement at the 
end of our second day's march at Bancroft Bay, that in 
the morning we had passed "the bay where many years 
ago the white men lived in a ship frozen in the ice. 
He went on to say that "here she remained for some 
time, following the going away of the white men to 
the south in two small boats; and that the Eskimos 



1915] TO RENSSELAER HARBOR 157 

found her and went aboard and built a big wood fire 
on the cabin floor to get warm, whereupon the ship burned 
up. What a loss that was and how valuable the wood 
would have been to us to-day!" In this bay we found 
two cairns inclosing the records found by the Eskimos 
the year before, one left by Bonsall and the other by 
Doctor Kane himself. 

Our experience here with seals soon convinced me that 
Arklio was a crack shot behind the little screened sledge, 
by far the better hunter of the two boys, and one upon 
whom we could depend to feed our dogs for the re- 
mainder of the trip. He killed three seals in a few hours, 
while Ah-now-ka wounded four and lost them all. It 
was very amusing to see him rush toward one wounded 
seal disappearing into his hole in the ice, grab his hind 
flipper in his teeth, and with his two hands struggle 
violently to pull him back, at the same time trying to 
attract our attention by yelling to us with his mouth 
full of flipper. Finally, exhausted, he was obliged to 
let the seal go. 

Another search of Bancroft Bay on the 11th failed 
to find any evidence whatever of the Doctor Kane party. 
Just at the entrance, however, carved upon the vertical 
face of a rock, I was thrilled to discover a large letter 
**K" cut with the sharp point of some kind of an 
instrument. Undoubtedly, sixty-two years before. Doc- 
tor Kane had carved this permanent record and had also 
built the demolished cairn a few feet from it. But the 
contents of the latter were now gone. 

Thursday, May 13th, was a wretched day, raining 
and snowing as we awoke. In hopes of a bear, we packed 
up and plodded on, crossing the many bays and in- 
dentations from point to point until we discovered a 



158 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [May 

fresh bear track ojff Cape Kent. For two hours we fol- 
lowed this closely as it crossed and crisscrossed from 
berg to berg and from crack to crack. Finally, a great 
yellowish-white body was sighted a half-mile away, 
plodding through the snow from one berg to another in 
search of seals. Within a few minutes he stopped, 
lifted his nose, sniffed the air, and was away toward 
the south with a long, easy lope. Yell as we would, 
shout as we could, not an inch was gained for some 
time. Arklio and Ah-now-ka, realizing that we might 
possibly lose our quarry, finally slipped all their dogs, 
which now galloped along the trail with traces flying. 
Yelling at my dogs, *' Nan-nook-suah! Nan-nook-suah!" 
snapping out the long whip, with one man riding on my 
sledge, and two running, we at length made our way 
through a mass of rough ice to discover a large, beautiful 
male bear surrounded by the leaping black bodies of 
the dogs as they rushed in, nipped, and jumped to 
one side to avoid the glistening white teeth and the 
swish of those powerful forelegs. It was evident that 
not a dog in the pack wanted to come to close quarters 
with this formidable-looking animal; in fact, we met 
some returning along the trail. 

Slipping the remainder of the dogs, we closed in with 
the camera and with the rifles. One dog, encouraged by 
my presence, shot in a bit too close. The slowly wagging 
head whipped around like a steel spring. He grabbed 
the dog by the top of the head, whirled him around 
like a pinwheel, and slammed him down on the ice, a 
misshapen mass. "That dog is dead," I said to my- 
self, winding the film for a new exposure, but within 
a few minutes the victim was a hundred yards away 
with a determined "I am going home" look on his face. 




KANE RECORD FOUND ON NORTH GREENLAND SHORE 

Note the "K" as carved by Kane in 1853. 




r-N ^ -<*- <i .. 






ARROW CARVED ON THE SUMMIT OF FERN ROCK AT RENSSELAER HARBOR 
BY KANE EXPEDITION TO INDICATE LOCATION OF GLASS JAR CONCEALED IN 

A CREVICE 



1915] TO RENSSELAER HARBOR 159 

A ninety-pound dog held firmly in the steel jaws of a 
big polar bear is absolutely helpless. Finally a .22 h.-p. 
Savage did its work and did it quickly, as all killing 
should be done. 

In this first bear-fight with untried dogs there were 
many surprises. Poor old Blinky Bill, mild and meek- 
looking as a sheep, proved to be a hero in disguise. In- 
offensive, never mingling with the rest of the dogs, 
never picking a quarrel, thrashed by all, he fought like 
a demon, nipping, rushing, and jumping away until he 
was fairly wabbly on his legs. After the fight was over 
he retired modestly behind a lump of ice to nurse a 
thigh ripped completely open. One dog, a bully, sup- 
posed to be a born scrapper, became actually crazy with 
fright at the first slight dig he received. He did not 
appear to know where he was, and wandered off for 
half a mile, where he perched on an iceberg and howled 
dismally. Animals evidently are just as deceiving as 
men when it comes to a test of courage. 

Our bear measured eight feet from nose to tail, six 
feet in circumference, and four feet around the neck. 
So with dogs filled to repletion and sledges loaded with 
meat and the rolled-up skin, we took the back trail 
to the spot where our sledges and camping equipment 
had been abandoned. We pitched our tent in falling 
rain, hail, and snow which continued all through the 
next day. 

We cached our meat and skin on the 15th under the 
snow and proceeded toward the face of the Humboldt 
Glacier, so named by Doctor Kane after Alexander von 
Humboldt, the great naturalist and scientist. This 
glacier, one of the largest in the Arctic regions, stretches 
into the north for a distance of some fifty miles; it is 



160 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mat 

not at all impressive in its frontal face, only rising from 
the sea ice to a height of thirty or forty feet. The many 
bergs dotting Peabody Bay evidenced its activity dur- 
ing the summer months. Soft, deep snow, the result of 
the last two days' storm, turned us southward toward 
home. Then we saw our first glaucous gull and heard 
our first snow-bunting, harbingers of spring and of the 
long, delightful summer to come. Arklio shot a large 
seal which furnished us with plenty of meat for our 
dogs. 

A long, hard pull of eleven hours through soft snow 
all over Advance Bay and in and out among the islands, 
looking for bear, seal, and cairns of the Kane Expedi- 
tion, netted us only two hares and one small seal, which, 
strange to say, we discovered wallowing through deep 
snow far from his hole. Where the little fellow thought 
he was bound, it is hard to say. Ah-now-ka ran ahead 
and gathered him up in his arms before the leaping, 
excited dogs could injure him. He cuddled down in his 
lap as if he had at last found what he was looking for, 
a good, warm, comfortable place. 

Upon our arrival at Cairn Point, we learned that 
Hunt and Ak-pood-a-shah-o had returned from the 
hunting-ground in Ellesmere Land with five bears and 
fifteen musk-oxen, a very good and profitable trip. On 
the 21st we were at Borup Lodge again, although com- 
j>elled by open water to cross the land from the Polarises 
winter quarters to Etah by way of the river valley, a 
course we took many times during the four years when 
the conditions by sea were not favorable. 

At Etah we found a spring migration party of nineteen 
people, who were to proceed seventy -five miles up the 
coast in a few days to build their homes at Marshall 



1915] TO RENSSELAER HARBOR 161 

Bay. Anoritok, as well as Etah, has often been reported 
to be the most northern settlement of the Smith Sound 
tribe. In times past, however, Eskimos have inhabited 
the whole stretch of coast-line from Etah to the Hum- 
boldt Glacier, as shown by the large number of old igloos 
we found upon this coast during our four years' work. 
But the Eskimos had not attempted a settlement be- 
yond Anoritok for a great many years until this party 
proceeded up the coast to try their fortunes where some 
of their ancestors had lived. They were certain of 
plenty of caribou meat and skins, but not so sure of 
the much-needed walrus meat for their dogs, of the skin 
of the bearded seal for their boot soles, and that of the 
ringed seal for their coats and boots. Their fortunes 
during the subsequent months at this far northern spot 
answered the question as to why this coast had been 
deserted years ago by the natives. They returned to 
our house in the spring, poorly clothed and literally 
starving. 

When he left Etah for the long spring trip, Ekblaw 
intended to proceed over the top of EUesmere Land, 
north through Eureka Sound, east through the Greely 
Fiord, and thence to the Lake Hazen region and old 
Fort Conger headquarters of the Greely Expedition, 
returning home by way of Kennedy Channel, Peabody 
Bay, and Smith Sound. Before his departure I had as- 
sured him of a supporting party to aid him on the re- 
turn trip; not that he would need food, for he would 
pass through one of the best game countries in the 
world, but he might possibly require fresh dogs for the 
last lap of a long journey, as we did in 1914. Doctor 
Tanquary was to be in charge of this work, proceeding 
northward to Fort Conger through the Kane Basin and 



162 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [May 

Kennedy Channel, where he would meet Ekblaw and 
return with him south to Etah. His frozen feet and the 
subsequent amputation of two big toes had compelled 
him to give up all thoughts of spring work and had 
kept him closely confined to the house. Green now was 
in fair shape and was willing to undertake the trip. 
On the 23d he got away, accompanied by two of our 
best Eskimos, Arklio and Oo-bloo-ya, with instructions 
to proceed to Fort Conger, to furnish Ekblaw with dogs 
to relieve him of whatever skins he might have collected, 
and then to return south to Etah. 

During May and June we were very busy adding to 
our collection of bird skins and eggs, and we were es- 
pecially fortunate in securing one fine set of the eggs 
of the white gyrfalcon {Falco islandus), very difficult to 
obtain in this north country, as the bird builds its nest 
high up on the face of the inaccessible cliffs. 

On Thursday, May 23d, we placed five letters inclosed 
in bottles on the surface of a big berg off Sunrise Point; 
one to the New York Tribune, one to President Osborn 
of the American Museum, and three "To the Finder." 
Now that our wireless had failed, we would try one of 
the oldest methods of communication by trusting our 
mail to the ocean currents. 

A bottle with note which I dropped in Baffin Bay in 
1909 made its way in six months to the Old Kinsale Life- 
saving Station on the coast of Ireland. It was picked 
up by the patrol and returned to me with the informa- 
tion requested as to the locality and time found, to- 
gether with the friendly words: "I would like to drink 
to the health of Commander Peary and his gallant crew. 
In joyful anticipation I thank you." Another, thrown 
into the waters off Cape Cod, was returned in two 



1915] TO RENSSELAER HARBOR 163 

months by a Frendh. boy living on the shores of Nova 
Scotia. 

Some thirty notes in all were cast into the sea at 
Etah, well wrapped and inclosed in small oaken barrels, 
strongly headed and covered with a good coat of copper 
paint. Possibly at some future time these may be 
recovered, following their long trip at sea. 



IX 



WAITING FOR THE SHIP 

OUR second spring with its continual day was now 
upon us. The big glaucous gulls {Larus hyper- 
horeus) were sailing on outstretched wings along the face 
of the cliffs, ever ready to pounce upon one of the 
myriads of dovekies {Alle alle) which filled the air with 
wheeling black dots and a volume of music. The 
Eskimo tupiks were being erected one by one. Sledges, 
black with women and children, were passing up and 
down the fiord. One was of more than passing interest. 
Five small pups were straining at a heavily loaded sledge 
containing our bath-tub; and in the bath-tub were two 
undried bearskins, two children, two babies, and three 
women. 

Fine weather and spring restlessness tempted me out 
onto the trail again — another thorough search of Rens- 
selaer Harbor for the remains of the Elisha Kent Kane 
Expedition. A careful search at Cairn Point failed to 
disclose the "K" burnt on the rock with powder; the 
cairn, however, was easily found. 

The run from Etah to Rensselaer Harbor, up to that 
time the most northern habitation of man, was easily 
accomplished in two marches. What a flood of book 
memories came over me as we rounded Sylvia Head- 



1915] WAITING FOR THE SHIP 165 

land so often mentioned by Kane! There lay Butler 
Island, Fern Rock, the receding terraces, the group of 
rocky islets! Along this shore the little brig Advance 
was pulled and coaxed into her icy cradle to remain for 
two long years and then finally abandoned. And along 
this shore Doctor Kane, in retreat, had sledged the in- 
valids south, followed by Ms crew in the drag-ropes, 
pulling their two boats toward the open water beyond 
Etah. 

Running to the top of Observatory Island, I first 
discovered the grave of Schubert and Baker — a mass of 
rocks filling a natural crevice. How well I remembered 
reading, years ago in the appendix of Doctor Kane's 
book, "On the highest point of the island ... is a deep- 
ly chiseled arrow-mark filled with lead." I looked down 
at my feet and found myself almost standing on the 
arrow ! In the middle of the arrow was a deeply chiseled 
hole. Consulting the narrative, I find: "Near this [the 
grave] a hole was worked into the rock and a paper 
inclosed in glass, sealed in with melted lead." Lead, 
papery and glass were missing. Possibly they had been 
taken by Bryant, of the Charles Francis Hall Expedi- 
tion, who, when in winter quarters at Polaris Beach near 
Life Boat Cove in 1872-73, visited Rensselaer Harbor. 

Everything was as described by Kane, even the "en- 
larged crack five feet due west of above arrow." In 
memory of America's first Arctic explorer, I inserted my 
ice lance in the hole of the "deeply chiseled arrow-mark," 
and to the top of it fastened the American flag intrusted 
to my care by the Kane Masonic Lodge of New York 
City. Sixty years had gone by since these cliffs, whit- 
ened shores, and islets had looked upon the Stars and 
Stripes. Sitting there on the summit of Fern Rock on 



166 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [June 

the sunlit day, I visualized that 20tli of May, 1855. 
There only a few yards away lay the dismantled brig 
solidly embedded in the harbor ice; fluttering from the 
topmast-head, the red, white, and blue; standing upon 
the deck ready for the long march to the south. Doctor 
Kane and his sixteen men, scurvy riddled, but taking 
this last and only chance for their lives. 

Our last farewell to the brig was made with more solemnity. 
The entire ship's company was collected in our dismantled winter 
chamber to take part in the ceremonial. It was Sunday. Our 
moss walls had been torn down and the wood that supported them 
burned. Our beds were off at the boats. The galley was unfurnished 
and cold. Everything about the little den of refuge was desolate. 

We read prayers and a chapter of the Bible; and then, all stand- 
ing silently round, I took Sir John Frankhn's portrait from its frame 
and cased it in an India-rubber scroll. ... I then addressed the party; 
I did not affect to disguise the difficulties that were before us; but 
I assured them that they could all be overcome by energy and subor- 
dination to command, and that the thirteen hundred miles of ice and 
water that lay between us and North Greenland could be traversed 
with safety for most of us and hope for all. . . . 

We then went upon deck; the flags were hoisted and hauled 
down again, and our party walked once or twice around the brig, 
looking at her timbers and exchanging comments upon the scars 
which reminded them of every stage of her dismantling. Our 
figurehead — the fair Augusta, the httle blue-eyed girl with pink 
cheeks who had lost her breast by an iceberg and her nose by a nip 
off Bedevilled Beach — ^was taken from our bows and placed aboard 
the Hope. " She is, at any rate, wood," said the men when I hesitated 
about giving them the additional burden, "and if we cannot carry 
her far we can burn her." . . . 

No one thought of the mockery of cheers; we had no festival liquor 
to mislead our perception of the real state of things. 

It may be of interest to know that "the fair Augusta, 
the little girl with pink cheeks," was not used for wood, 
but was jealously guarded and cared for throughout 
that long retreat across the ice-infested waters of Mel- 




WITH THE FEEL OF THE WARM SUN ON HIS BODY HE GURGLES WITH DELIGHT 




THE END OF THE DAY 



1915] WAITING FOR THE SHIP 167 

ville Bay and is now at rest, after her adventures, in 
the trophy room of the Kane Masonic Lodge of New 
York City. 

I looked long, photographed, and familiarized myself 
with every detail of that historic spot. The two tower- 
ing portals at the entrance, the stratified cliffs in black 
and white, the terraces receding east to the Greenland 
ice-cap, the river mouth leading to the sinuous valley, 
the ice-girded rocky shores — all are stamped indelibly 
upon my memory. 

Reluctantly we aroused our sleeping dogs, turned the 
bows of our sledges toward Sylvia Headland, snapped our 
whips, and wended our way southward. Looking back, 
I could imagine the harbor, awakened from its long sleep 
and rubbing its eyes, to be watching us until we turned 
from view; and then alone to settle down again into the 
quietness and deathlike stillness of the Great White 
North. 

On June 4th we were back again at Borup Lodge, 
busily engaged in developing negatives, skinning birds, 
blowing eggs, and attending to the thousand and one 
things which are always in waiting. 

Tanquary, a cripple and suffering exceedingly with 
the unhealed stubs of his frozen toes, pluckily as- 
sisted in whatever way possible. Jot constructed a 
kayak for him so that he could keep in good health by 
exercise. 

Hunt, strong physically and fond of the water, was 
up and away to the hills or the islands every day, add- 
ing materially to our ornithological collection. 

Allen, ever ready to do what I requested, had been 
sent in company with Ak-pood-a-shah-o 120 miles down 
the coast to the great bird-rookery at Saunders Island 



168 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [July 

for moving pictures. Much of the 12,000 feet of film 
brought back by the expedition is the result of his pa- 
tience, energy, and skill. 

On June 16th, Ekblaw and his supporting party ar- 
rived from the north. He had finished his thousand- 
mile trip in excellent health and looked tough and as 
brown as a berry. He had covered the 280 miles from 
Fort Conger in nine marches, with his dogs apparently 
in good condition, relinquishing his plans for botanical 
work in the vicinity of Rensselaer Harbor. 

Allen and Ak-pood-a-shah-o came driving down the 
fiord on their return from the south on the 23d. I had 
worried considerably over Jerome's propensity for climb- 
ing and getting on top of things, and as they approached 
I closely scanned the sledge and everything on it with 
my field-glass, to see if everything seemed all right. A 
pair of crutches hanging from the upstanders brought 
forth the exclamation, "Jerome has broken his leg!'* 
But the crutches proved to be only snow-shoes. 

Bubbling over with enthusiasm over his wonderful 
trip and varied and exciting experiences, he had much 
to tell us. The trip over the glacier had been interest- 
ing, the rush down exciting. There were happy Eskimos 
at all the villages; fifty live narwhal in a lead only a few 
yards distant! 

At one village he was suddenly discovered in his 
photographic changing-bag made of two heavy blankets 
which enveloped him completely. One very corpulent, 
temperamentally excitable Eskimo lady threw up both 
arms, let out a shriek, and fled incontinently to the hills 
in her endeavor to escape from this misshapen monster! 

An Eskimo boy had tried to shoot a man. It ap- 
peared that the boy was insulted upon being told that 



o "^ 

rn t-H 




1915] WAITING FOR THE SHIP 169 

he was not a man. To prove his manhood he decided 
to shoot some one; therefore he selected as his victim 
the insulter's brother! His aim was as erratic as his 
temperament. They both still live. 

By the last of June little auks (Alle alle), black guille- 
mots (Cepphus mandti), eider ducks {Somateria molissima 
horealis), the brant {Branta hernicla glaucogastra), the 
long-tailed duck {Harelda hyemalis), the snow-bunting 
{Plectrophenax nivalis nivalis), the wheat-ear {Saxicola 
cenanthe leucorhoa), and the burgomaster gull {Larus 
hyperhoreus) were all laying their eggs. Deep rivers 
were flowing through the valleys; water was tumbling 
from the cliffs; salmon trout were passing to and from 
Alida Lake; the rapidly melting harbor ice lay glittering 
in the warm ever-revolving sun. Another long, delight- 
ful Arctic summer was here with its manifold oppor- 
tunities for work, and work with a distinct pleasure. 
Always the day was too short and the period of sleep 
too early. So much to do and so little time in which 
to do it! 

What fun high up on the cliffs, crawling and creep- 
ing on the narrow ledges, often with body pressed tightly 
against the face of the rock, hunting for the eggs of the 
white gyrfalcon, the raven, and the big burgomaster 
gull! And what a swish of diving white bodies and 
extended wings as one approached nest and eggs and 
young! 

Impatient at the slow wearing away of the edge of the 
sea ice now extending far beyond the outer islands, we 
launched our sail-dory on July 6th in an open pool be- 
yond Sunrise Point and sailed away toward the shores 
of Littleton Island on our annual egg-collecting picnic. 
To our surprise, because of a recent snow-storm we 



170 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [July 

found very few eggs in the nests, and got only fifteen 
hundred. 

On the 8th Jot and I awoke in our little tent in Cache 
Cove to find it blowing, raining, and snowing. Here un- 
doubtedly was the site of the Beebe cache of 1882 and 
of the relief cache left by Seabury in 1883 for the ill- 
fated Greely party. On the southern side of the island, 
while searching for eggs of the sea-pigeon, I was de- 
lighted to discover the remains of the coal cache left by 
Lieutenant Lockwood of the Lady Franklin Bay Ex- 
pedition of 1881 when on its way to headquarters in 
the far North. Here Lieutenant Greely had instructed 
that records should be left, one in the top of a coal-pile 
and one under its inner edge, for the guidance of the 
relief-ships, should they fail to reach him in 1882 and 
1883. On the southwest corner of the island were the 
remains of the cairn of Doctor Kane, the cairn of the 
British Expedition of 1875, and the cairn of Sir Allen 
Young where mail was left by him for Sir George Nares 
in 1876. 

There were many names carved on the surface of the 
rock. We could see plainly "Otto Sverdrup," captain 
of the Fram; also in big, bold letters "Erik, 1875," re- 
vealing the fact that the ship which had brought us 
hither was well along in years, since she had visited 
this spot forty years before in the character of a Dundee 
whaler. 

On McGary's Rock, a favorite breeding-place of ducks 
and gulls, we found two hundred eggs, and added them to 
our stores for the following winter. On the morning of 
the 10th, like Shackleton's penguins, we found ourselves 
buried deep under the snow. That such an amount 
could fall within a few hours seemed incredible. Jot, 



1915] WAITING FOR THE SHIP 171 

from his hole beneath the jib of our boat, called that 
he could not possibly get out. Ak-pood-a-shah-o, our 
Eskimo, was summoned to his aid and affected his 
release. Jot declaring as soon as he reached the open that 
the snowflakes were as large as postal cards. We 
covered our tanalite tent, altogether unsuited for wet 
snow, with the remains of an old miner's tent. The 
thickened walls gave us adequate protection against 
this very severe midsummer storm. Once more we 
were comfortable, with the pot full of eider duck and 
the frying-pan sizzling with bacon and delicious eider- 
duck eggs. 

To our astonishment, the storm continued on the 
11th and 12th, the weather being boisterous, with heavy 
squalls and falling snow. The Eskimos declared that 
such a prolonged storm at this time of the year was 
unprecedented. They had never experienced nor had 
they ever heard of such a storm before. All the nests 
were buried, and the birds were flying disconsolately 
up and down and over the length of the island, search- 
ing for a bit of ground and a future home. To add to 
our troubles, during the night Torngak, the evil spirit 
of the North, attempted to rob us of a part of the ice- 
foot and our two boats. Fortunately, the precaution 
which I had taken of leading a long rope to the solid 
rocks beyond the ice-foot saved them from destruction. 
"Look for the best, but be prepared for the worst." 
This should never be forgotten in Arctic work. 

On the morning of the 13th there were signs of clear- 
ing, bearing out the old sailor's belief that the weather 
is influenced by the new moon. Three narwhal playing 
but a few yards away brought us out of our tent with a 

rush, but an attempt to harpoon them was unsuccessful. 
12 



172 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Jult 

On the afternoon of the 13th, as we proceeded up the 
coast in our kayaks toward Anoritok, the whole sea 
was a molten bed of silver as calm and placid as a 
mountain pool. A beautiful glow over the heights of 
Ellesmere Land, with here and there a golden-lit peak 
and a deep fiord bathed in sunshine, lent to the whole 
scene the spirit of enchantment. It was on such days 
that one got homesick, and strange to say, not for home 
and friends; one regretted the near approach of our 
time of departure from the North Country, a separation 
that might be for all time. 

At Anoritok three large narwhal and a happy group 
of Eskimos were congregated at the edge of the ice. 
Their raw narwhal-skin was a delicacy, yet it was quickly 
laid aside for the dozens of golden nuggets which we 
gave them from the nests of the eider duck. It was 
good to see the Eskimos again, to hear them laugh, and 
to hear them tell their stories. 

On the 18th it blew great guns and rained atrociously. 
Happily the Eskimo tupik is well built and of ideal 
shape to stand the onslaughts of the wind from the big 
hills; with its covering of sealskin firmly braced within 
by its many poles and held without by its ring of heavy 
rocks, it stands almost as a part of Mother Earth, strong 
and resisting to the end. 

Within a few feet of our tent sat the petrified figure 
of a woman huddled in skins, looking out over Smith 
Sound covered with its field of ice, and patiently awaiting 
the return of her adopted son, a small polar bear which 
had wandered off into the unknown many years ag 
and had failed to return. A strange, pathetic figure and 
one which enters largely into the tales and traditions of 
the Smith Sound tribe. The Eskimos have not for- 



1915] WAITING FOR THE SHIP 173 

gotten her great love for raw meat, which once the bear 
so faithfully brought to her on his return from his 
daily hunt, and so the passing hunters often apply 
to the mouth of the disconsolate mother bits of fat 
for her sustenance. Grease spots can plainly be seen 
about her face and on her breast. This locality I regard 
as one of the most interesting places ethnologically in 
the far North; with its many old igloos it bears every 
evidence of having been inhabited for centuries by a 
very old people. Upon the ground and about the 
igloos is a heterogeneous assortment of old harpoons, 
killing-irons, and much household and hunting equip- 
ment. 

But there was much to be done at Etah. Hundreds 
of boxes were to be packed in preparation for the coming 
of the ship; thousands of pounds of meat — walrus, nar- 
whal, and seal — ^must be secured for the coming winter. 
These two problems confronted us for three years — 
preparations for going home and the uncertainty of 
going, thus necessitating the obtaining of supplies for 
the coming winter. Boxes were packed for transpor- 
tation, and at the same time eggs were cached, food was 
conserved, the hunt carried on, and much put away 
for the dark winter months. 

When in camp on Sunrise Point, on the last day of 
July, with one Eskimo, two women with nursing babies, 
and one little girl, Ak-pood-a-shah-o harpooned a big 
bull walrus. We yelled for the women to pull out the 
sailing-dory. How they managed to drag this twenty- 
one-foot boat for some forty feet, ship the unwieldy 
rudder, and row off to us, a mile away, I do not know. 
They were anxious to be in at the killing, and they got 
all they wanted. 



174 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 

I have seen many walrus die, but never one so hard. 
Wounded again and again by the kilKng-iron and shot 
at least six times, he persisted in living. I understand 
now why the explorer of old declared that to shoot a 
walrus was impossible. Finally, the wounded walrus 
lay on his back on the surface of the water, placed both 
front flippers up over his head, and deliberately covered 
his eyes. The act, though accidental, seemed pathet- 
ically human. If I could have given him back his life, 
I would have gladly done so. 

The next day Ak-pood-a-shah-o harpooned a cow with 
young. The herd remained with her, leading us in the 
dory far toward the south. We succeeded in grasping 
the drag after some hard pulling. To this we fastened 
a long line which could be released quickly if the walrus 
should pass beneath a berg. Twice we fastened this 
line to a floe-berg to retard the progress. It was a 
strange sight: a floe harnessed to a walrus accompanied 
by six others; and on the floe a white man with an 
Eskimo very much excited, the former armed with a 
harpoon, the latter with a rifle; and, towed by the floe, 
a dory containing two women with babies on their 
backs and a small girl. The babies were yelling, the 
girl was wild-eyed, and the two women were vigorously 
pounding the rail, one with a dipper and the other with 
an oar, to prevent the walrus from attacking them. In 
attempting to shoot the mother the young walrus was 
killed. The mother at once turned, gave the battle- 
cry, and charged, followed by all the others. For a 
moment the situation seemed serious, but was quickly 
relieved by the shooting of the mother and two others. 

The wind was now increasing and the tide ebbing; 
quick work was demanded of us all. Quickly rigging 



1915] WAITING FOR THE SHIP 175 

an Eskimo purchase by chipping a hole in the ice and 
reeving in a rope of rawhide, four of us pulled the large 
walrus, which weighed at least 1,000 pounds, up out 
of the water and onto the surface of the ice. While 
Ak-pood-a-shah-o was engaged in cutting up the large 
walrus, the two women dissected the small one with 
two pK)cket-knives, the babies peeping over their shoul- 
ders, as much interested in the job as their mothers. 
One's education begins at an early age in that country. 

Loaded to the rail with bloody red meat, we hoisted 
sail and squared away for home, landing at our camp 
on Sunrise Point. In the evening a narwhal was capt- 
ured measuring thirteen feet ten inches in length. A 
baby narwhal, one foot in length, found in the uterus, 
was of much interest to me and to the Eskimos. 

The summer activities may be summed up by the 
following quotation from my field journal: 

August 7th, Saturday, Pandora Harbor, — We arrived here at 
five o'clock, having left Etah last evening. Jot and I have with us 
two Eskimos, Ak-pood-a-shah-o and Ah-now-ka. Taking every 
advantage of the good weather, we headed straight for Cape Alexan- 
der in our twenty-one-foot sailing-dory. A failure of wind, however, 
compelled us to land here for the night. 

When Ak-pood-a-shah-o was engaged in stalking a seal for break- 
fast a search was made along shore for old igloos, two of which 
were found, one the largest I have ever seen. 

Climbing to the summit of Cape Kendrick, which was beautifully 
molded many centuries ago by glaciers spreading outward from the 
Greenland ice-cap over the headlands and dropping into the sea, a 
long and diligent search was made for a possible record and cairn 
left by the officers or crew of the Pandora, which ship anchored here 
for a few days in the summer of 1876. At length a large, substantial 
cairn was discovered. Stone by stone it was pulled apart without 
disclosing the least trace of a record. 

Two or three other mounds of rocks led me to a closer examina- 
tion. To my dehght, they were the best constructed stone fox- 
traps I have ever seen. At least ten could be counted from one 



176 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 

spot. Judging fpom the lichen-covered rocks and the general ap- 
pearance and shape of the old igloos upon the shore, the inhabitants 
of which were undoubtedly the builders, I should say these traps 
are at least seventy-five or a hundred years old. 

Ak-pood-a-shah-o tells me that some years ago he had no bullets; 
consequently, in shooting a bearded seal he used a large nail which 
passed completely through the skull, killing him instantly. 

August 8th, Sunday, Retreat Harbor. — Into this Uttle bight in 
the land came, sixty-one years ago, the retreat party from the brig 
Advance, Vfet to the skin, cold, and discouraged, following their round- 
ing of Cape Alexander, the Cape Horn of the North. 

August 9th, Monday. — To have clear weather is certainly a novelty 
after two months of wind, rain, and snow. The Eskimos say that 
the great war in the south where men are killing each other every 
day is the cause of the bad weather. 

Two Arctic hare can be seen on the hiU back of our tent. Two 
white whales have just gone to the soth'ard. Game everywhere. 

August 10th, Tuesday, Sulwuddt. — Two more walrus killed to- 
day. A rough sea prevented use of kayak and compelled us to use 
the dory after stripping her of everything unessential. There has 
been an endless stream of walrus up the coast throughout the day. 
Two of these were harpooned and shot. The beach is so covered 
with drift ice and the sea so heavy that a landing can only be effected 
with difficulty. 

Three skulls found here will make a good addition to our ethnologi- 
cal collection. One grave is so recent that I will not disturb it. Out 
of respect for the memory of old Ik-qua, the first Eskimo to ever come 
to Peary at Red CHff, one should let him rest in peace with all his 
treasures, consisting of two pictures cut from a newspaper, one blue 
metal cup, four Eskimo drills, one wooden tube, one small glass 
bottle, and an old rusty gun. How many, many things thrown into 
the ash-barrel at home would make these people happy. 

We are keeping a constant watch on the southern horizon for 
signs of smoke, indication of the ship from home. As far as I am 
concerned, it makes very little difference. Three of the boys at least 
would be terribly disappointed if she did not arrive. For their sake 
I hope that she does. 

August 11th, Wednesday. — Two more big walrus to-day. There 
were so many in front of the glacier that for some time we did not 
dare to attack them. On the way down one followed us underwater 
and struck at the rudder with his tusks, causing Ah-now-ka, who 
was steering, to hop around and yell like a maniac. Some distance 
beyond the herd were two sound asleep, standing upright in the 



1915] WAITING FOR THE SHIP 177 

water, with head and tusks well back and out, a position which I 
had never seen before. The sound of our oars aroused them. 

At length we steered boldly into the herd, picking out a large bull 
with a Winchester .33 special. A stream of blood followed. Pre- 
vious to this the herd, consisting of at least fifty, looked threateningly 
at the boat several times. With rifles ready now we rowed into them, 
following the blood. Jot stood ready with a harpoon and, when 
directly over the wounded animal, threw it. It failed to penetrate. 
As he described it: "God! it bounded back like a pop-gun! I had 
to dodge to get clear of it." The walrus disappeared, headed off- 
shore. Knowing that he was mortally wounded, we followed and 
found him lying upon the surface of the water, face down. Creep- 
ing up cautiously, Ak-pood-a-shah-o hurled his harpoon into the 
round black mass of flesh. There was not even a tremor in his body. 
He was stone dead. An examination revealed a hole completely 
through his skull. 

A male eider flew up to our tent to-day and died. They are com- 
ing our way! We may tame a few before we leave. 

August 12th, Thursday. — Thick fog aU day, but moderate. Shall 
cut up walrus this evening. 

August 13th, Friday. — During the night we have killed four seals 
and two oog-jooks. Ah-now-ka harpooned one hve seal from his 
kayak, the first, I think, which he has ever killed in this way. Jot 
shot a bearded seal in front of our tent, which sank, but came to 
the surface in about five hours. 

Photographed the brick-red stream bursting from the side of the 
big glacier to the south. 

Midnight, Peteravik. — It is so magnificent here that I am glad 
we came down, being able to see far to the east, even to the end 
of Cape Parry. On the way, Ak-pood-a-shah-o killed a seal and 
three burgomasters. One Eskimo skull near our tent adds to our 
collection. Am surprised to find a number of old igloos all along 
ithis coast, igloos which have not been occupied for centuries. 

Above our tent a pair of white gyrfalcons and a pair of ravens are 
nesting. 

August 14-th, Saturday. — Male eider ducks can scarcely be recog- 
nized at this season of the year, due to the fact that it is the molting 
season and all wing feathers are gone completely. 

Sea-pigeons, or black guillemots, are breeding here in the crevices 
of the cliff up to a height of at least eight hundred feet. 

August 15th, Sunday, Sulwuddy. — We are back here again on the 
flood tide after a rather exciting' trip by the men in kayaks, a heavy 
swell making it rather dangerous for such small skin boats. 



178 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 

Ah-now-ka and I have had a good talk to-night. He tells me that 
a long time ago Ak-pood-a-shah-o was an Angekok. He gained this 
reputation by prophesying the arrival of a ship the day before. He 
has lost that power now, consequently his fame. There is only one 
prophet in the tribe now, Tau-chee-ah. His reputation is based upon 
the power of naming, unseen, whatever object may be touched. 
"Years ago," continued Ah-now-ka, "a woman ran away from her 
husband and from every one. She went up that glacier over there. 
She became a 'kevig-tok,' what you were asking us about yesterday. 
She never came back. She hung herself by her hood on a point of 
rock. She choked. Another woman, Ah-dah-ned-doo, ran away 
for the same reason — her husband was cross and beat her. She 
drove up the Cape Alexander Glacier. A few days later the dogs 
returned, but no one has ever seen her. Some say she was taken up 
into the sky and has gone far away." 

August 16-17th, Monday and Tuesday. — We left Hayes Harbor at 
four o'clock yesterday afternoon, working along toward Sutherland 
Island, where we stopped for two hours and shot a few eider ducks. 
Getting under way, we came around the cape with a strong, fair 
wind, capsizing one kayak and with difficulty keeping them all 
right side up. We arrived at Etah at eleven o'clock, finding the 
boys anxious for news from the south. The Eskimos are beginning 
to arrive from Anoritok in anticipation of the ship. Others are 
coming as soon as they can get here. 

Tank's kayak is done. He is thoroughly enjoying himself now on 
every calm day. 

It was now August 1 8th, and we felt some appre- 
hension as to the non-arrival of the relief-ship which 
the American Museum had agreed to send at the end 
of two years and which I had requested by the mail 
sledged south to Upernavik by Tanquary. My men, 
longing for the time of departure, had watched the 
southern horizon from early morning until late at 
night. Their interests were in the homeland, and 
rightly so. Two years is a long, long time in the Arctic 
regions unless a man is enthusiastic over that strangely 
desolate but peculiarly attractive country. Religiously 
and faithfully the days on our calendar had been heav- 



1915] WAITING FOR THE SHIP 179 

ily crossed, a shiny black square obliterating each com- 
pletely, with a fervent "Thank God!" 

"Work" was now the word. To maintain our health 
during the dark, blustering months to come, meat must 
be secured — fresh meat — the great and efficient prevent- 
ive of that formerly dreaded disease, scurvy, fatal to 
hundreds of Arctic men and thwarting the well-laid 
plans of many a commander. It is an insidious malady 
and but little understood up to the last few years; it 
is not caused by subsisting on salt meats nor by not 
varying the diet with vegetables, fruits, acids, and the 
like, nor by the lack of exercise and uncleanliness in 
habits; it is chiefly due to a lack of the so-called vita- 
mines. In plain words, a certain proportion of one's 
food must consist of something fresh. 

"I lay very ill for a month and thought I would 
die. One day the Lapp saw a seal and he ran, carrying 
a pail with him, and shot it and caught the blood in 
the pail. I drank that and immediately began to re- 
vive. I shall now get well," relates one of the survivors 
of a party of four found in Spitzbergen. 

The deep-water sailor of years ago ate largely of so- 
called "salt horse"; scurvy was the result. The vita- 
mines were lacking. Lime-juice was considered by the 
medical profession as a sure preventive; consequently, 
laws were enacted compelling whaling-ships to issue as 
a part of the daily ration this anti-scorbutic, hence the 
term " lime- juicer " as applied to this type of craft. 
Some years ago, seventeen Arctic men were found dead 
among an abundance of food, the last survivor in a 
sitting posture, dressed in furs, holding in his mittened 
hands a junk of salt pork. 

On the British Expedition of 1875-76, the men daily 



180 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 

filed aft and, in the presence of their officers, drank 
their stipulated amount of lime-juice; practically every 
man was afflicted with scurvy within less than a year. 
It is of interest to note that fresh meat was issued only 
twice in three weeks. According to Nares, even Nellie, 
Markham's dog, and both the cats plainly showed scor- 
butic symptoms. 

A very early account of scurvy by Pigafetta, the his- 
torian of Magellan, is of interest: 

Our greatest misfortune was tliat we were attacked by a sort of 
malady which caused the gums to swell so that they rise above the 
teeth in the upper and lower jaws alike, and those who are attacked 
by it can take no nourishment. Nineteen of our men died of it, 
among whom were the Patagonian giant and a Brazilian whom we 
had taken on board. Besides the dead we had twenty-five or twenty- 
six sailors who had pains in their legs and other parts of their body, 
but they recovered. 

All on board of Bering's ship had the scurvy. She 
drifted about without sail or helmsmen, finally entering 
a cove of Bering Island, where nearly all died either on 
board ship or after landing. 

Huddled on deck, one half that hardy crew 

Lie shrunk and withered in the biting sky. 

With filmy stare and lips of livid hue. 

And sapless limbs that stiffen as they lie; 

While the dire pest scurge of the frozen zone 

Rots through the vein and gnaws the knotted bone. 

Although our relief-ship might possibly reach Etah 
within the next ten days, the men, now thoroughly 
alarmed, decided to aid me in every possible way in 
the execution of plans formulated months before against 
a non-arrival by September 1st, On the 20th Jot, 



1915] WAITING FOR THE SHIP 181 

Allen, Green, and Hunt left in our twenty-one-foot dory 
for the hunting-grounds below Cape Alexander, followed 
on the 21st by Ka-ko-tchee-a, Ah-now-ka, E-say-oo, in 
kayaks, and myself in the twelve-foot punt. Ekblaw 
and Tanquary remained at Borup Lodge, the former in 
charge of meteorological work during our absence. 

At Retreat Cove, fifteen miles south, we overtook the 
boys, sound asleep in camp. We carefully removed the 
sleeping-bags belonging to my Eskimos from the dun- 
nage in the boat, and proceeded on to Sulwuddy, our 
objective point, eight miles below. 

The boys joined us at noon of the 22d. 

Walrus are generally very numerous in this locality. 
Many were passing along the shore, and large herds 
were feeding in the shallow water upon their staple 
food, bivalved molluscs, the Mya truncata and the 
Saxicava rugosa, rooted out of the sand and mud with 
their long ivory tusks. As a result, when the walrus 
are killed they often furnish the Eskimos with a nice 
fresh mess of shelled clams readily obtained from the 
stomach and eaten raw. Other foods of the walrus 
are sandworms, starfishes, shrimps, and even seals, 
as shown by meat and strips of skin found in the 
stomach. 

Known as the sea-horse, or morse, a hundred years 
ago, and of prodigious size and in incredible numbers, 
the walrus figure largely in Arctic history, being greatly 
prized for the value of the ivory tusks and the tre- 
mendously strong hide. The Greenland tithes of more 
than 600 years ago were paid in "ox-hides, sealskins, 
and walrus ivory." 

"They paid their tribute to the Crusades in the shape 
of walrus tusks, delivered at Bergen in 1327, and their 



182 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 

weight is noted on a receipt which is still in existence." — 
(Rink.) 

The old Muscovy Company fitted out many a vessel 
for Cherie Island, nearly midway between Spitzbergen 
and Norway. Here as high as 1,000 walrus were capt- 
ured by the crew of a single vessel in one hour, some 
of them fourteen feet in length and weighing 3,000 
pounds. Such a slaughter would be impossible in the 
water, and, therefore, they must have been discovered 
sunning themselves and asleep upon the land, a well- 
known custom of these animals centuries ago. One 
of the earlier expeditions penned up 500 alive and kept 
them [prisoners for several days. Our early writers re- 
ported them in large numbers upon the islands of the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence. I saw a large herd upon the 
land in 1908, lying upon the northern shore of Eider 
Duck Island. 

There is evidence to show that walrus were at one 
time, probably during the glacial period, numerous 
along our Atlantic coast as far south as Virginia. They 
were seen in the Gulf of St. Lawrence as late as 1839. 
To-day only a few are seen as far south as Okak on the 
Labrador. 

An amusing account by DeVeer, an early writer of 
northern voyages, is highly interesting: 

The sea-horse is a wonderful strong monster of the sea, much 
larger than an ox, which keeps continually in the seas, having a skin 
like a sea calf or seal, with very short hayre, mouthed hke a lion; 
and many times they he upon the ice; they are hardly killed unless 
you strike them just upon the forehead; it hath four feete but no 
eares, and commonly it hath young, one at a time. And when the 
fishermen chance to finde them upon a flake of ice with their young 
ones, shee casteth her young ones before her into the water, and then 
takes them in her arms, and so plungeth up and down with them; 



1915] WAITING FOR THE SHIP 183 

and when she will revenge herself upon the boates or make resistance 
against them, then she casts her young from her againe, and with 
all her force goeth toward the boate (whereby our men were once in 
no small danger, for that the sea-horse had almost stricken her 
teeth into the sterne of their boate) thinking to overthrow it, but by 
means of the great cry which the men made, she was afraide, and 
swomme away againe and took her young ones againe in her arms. 
They have two teeth sticking out of their mouthes, on each side one, 
each being about halfe an ell long, and are esteemed to be as good 
as any ivarie or elephant's teeth. 



Their belligerent qualities, as here described, have not 
deteriorated through the centuries. They are, as I have 
said, pre-eminently the fighters of the North. No white 
man, however strong, should intrust himself to a com- 
bat with such a monster in a twenty-inch wide, nine- 
inch deep, paper-thin Eskimo kayak; but man in this, 
as in other things, often rashly and confidently attempts 
the seemingly impossible. My failure on two former 
occasions under perfect conditions but seemed to whet 
my appetite for success. In front of our tent at Sul- 
wuddy a large herd was feeding, rising to the surface 
to breathe about every nine minutes. Hunt, E-say-oo, 
and myself, all in kayaks some twenty yards away, 
watched them quietly, studying their actions and noting 
the comparative number of bulls and cows. Two or 
three big black heads with glistening white tusks de- 
manded peremptorily that the greatest caution should 
be exercised in dealing with their families. 

Noting that one remained about ten yards apart 
and frequently returned to the same position to breathe, 
I placed my kayak so that upon coming to the surface 
he would be headed away from me. He soon arose, 
breathing heavily, and in a perfect position. I dug the 
paddle deep into the water and jumped the kayak ahead 



184 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 

at full speed — so rapidly, In fact, that I oversliot my 
mark and found myself alongside of the walrus before 
I could properly grasp the harpoon. So near was the 
round, dark-gray body that I could place my hand 
upon it. At the moment he was lying in the water, face 
down. Immediate decision and quick action were abso- 
lutely necessary. I grabbed the harpoon and jabbed it 
deep down through the blubber and flesh, into the chest 
walls. His whole body jumped convulsively. With an 
angry roar he whipped his head around beneath my arm 
and stood upright in the water, glaring me in the face. 

For an instant it appeared that that thoroughly in- 
furiated mass was going to act, and act in my direction. 
It is needless to say that I lost no time in getting away, 
feeling every second that I might get a jab in the back. 
With a mighty splash he disappeared, followed by the 
rapid uncoiling of the rawhide line on the top of my kayak 
and the splash of the sealskin float as it struck the 
water. Hunt, in the twelve-foot flattie, succeeded in 
overtaking the float and in fastening it to the bow of 
his boat, and then began blazing away with a Winchester 
.33 special. Ten shots in all were expended, plowing 
furrows through the top of its head and along the sides 
of its body, but leaving the walrus very much alive. 
With the help of E-say-oo, the animal was finally killed 
and towed to the beach, to be cut up and cached be- 
neath the rocks. 

I learned on the 23d that Green and Allen were so 
anxious to reach the United States that they were willing 
to risk a trip across Melville Bay in our power-boat. I 
immediately volunteered to return home, launch the 
boat, and go with them as far as Umanak, where Freu- 
chen's launch could possibly be engaged for the trip 



1915] WAITING FOR THE SHIP 185 

to Upernavik. After considering it thoroughly for a few 
hours, they gave up the plan, because of the lateness of 
the season. We secured two or three tons of meat 
during the time we camped here; the boys working 
hard in cutting up the walrus and in placing them under 
the rocks for our use the following winter. 

On the 26th Jot, Ah-now-ka, Ka-ko-tchee-a, and I 
moved north to hunt about Retreat Cove and Cape 
Alexander, thinking that if the party were divided, 
twice as much meat could be secured. A few days later 
we rashly decided to pitch our tent on the extreme end 
of Cape Alexander, one of the pillars of Hercules and 
the Cape Horn of the North. Standing there at the en- 
trance to Smith Sound, beaten upon by the rushing winds 
from the Greenland ice-cap, the storms from the south, 
and the violent winds from the north, bridging out into 
ice-swirling, ice-infested waters, it seems like some living 
monster, striking in its savage personality. My wild 
wish to camp upon this wildest-looking cape in the 
North was at last gratified. 

The location of our tent only a few feet above the 
water's edge must have amused and tempted the evil 
spirits of that section. Water running through the tent 
drove us out of bed the first night, the result of a heavy 
sea from the south'ard. Pig-headed and obstinate, I 
refused to move our camp to higher ground. The next 
day we awoke with the same result. It was getting 
interesting. 

To bed we went the third night, with a strong breeze 
from the north, with heavy sea. At one o'clock in the 
morning it was as still as death. Not a particle of wind, 
the air a mass of big, feathery snowflakes, portending 
what we mostly and justly feared — a storm from the 



186 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Sept. 

south. It was no longer interesting; it was serious. 
Jot started at once down the shore to pull the flattie 
to safety up beyond the high-water mark. I packed 
everything in the tent, in anticipation of trouble, and 
followed Jot, worrying considerably over his long ab- 
sence. Upon our return, as we stood on the clifif above 
and obtained a first sight of our pitched tent, Jot 
yelled: "My God! Look at that! My rifle is gone!" 
,A succession of leaps brought us to the flat, sloping shelf 
upon which our tent was pitched, now nearly buried 
be every sea. 

Our equipment was too valuable to be lost. Quick 
work and dangerous work inside the tent surging back 
and forth with the strength of the waves netted every- 
thing, but in a soaked condition. We lost only a tin 
frying-pan, a tin cup, and a spoon which we could see 
upon the bottom in about ten feet of water when the 
storm cleared. 

Wiser and sadder men and taking no more chances, 
we repitched our tent well up among the rocks, far out 
of reach of the dangerous waves. Our food was gone 
and none could be obtained on the end of the cape, but 
if the storm continued, Etah was only fifteen miles away 
over the glacier and this we could walk, reclaiming our 
boats on a later date. Clearing weather at night enabled 
us to pack and leave what Jot had called repeatedly a 
"hell of a place for a camp." The boys at Sulwuddy, 
taking advantage of the same lull in the storm, followed 
us home, having obtained one more walrus since we 
left them. 

It was now September 1st and all hope of a relief- 
ship was given up for the year. Our situation was freely 
discussed and plans were made for the winter. Now 



1915] WAITING FOR THE SHIP 187 

that we had a large amount of meat cached under the 
rocks, fuel was our next consideration. Our little 
twelve-foot punt was requisitioned as a coal-carrier. 
Loaded to the rail on each trip, she brought over from 
Provision Point in one day 6,427 pounds. The next day 
our twenty-one-foot sailing-dory transported a total of 
10,360 pounds. With our 1,260 pounds already on the 
ground in bags, this gave us a grand total of more than 
18,000 pounds. At sixty-five pounds a day, which we 
were using, this should last until May 1st of the following 
year. 

By force of habit we still kept our eyes on the southern 
horizon over which ships of all shapes and sizes were 
continually coming and constantly reported. It is 
strange how a man sees what he wants to see. Jot and 
I were rounding Cape Alexander two weeks previous, 
and the boys declared our twenty-one-foot sail-boat to 
be the 500-ton steamship Erik from St. John's, an illusion 
which persisted for some minutes and was only reluc- 
tantly dispelled upon our reappearance some five miles 
from the house. Tanquary, hoping against hope, de- 
ferred further amputation of his two toes from day to 
day, preferring to have it done at home. He now con- 
sented to the removal of his two toes at the first joint 
by Doctor Hunt. He had suffered for six months, but 
had shown clear grit all the way through. 

A sub-hunting station was planned for Nerky, forty- 
five miles below Etah. Here a good Eskimo igloo could 
be built and the meat secured during the fall cached 
for our use in sledging south during the winter months, 
thus obviating the rather diflScult route with loaded 
sledges over the Crystal Palace Glacier inside Cape 

Alexander. As a preliminary step toward the estab- 
13 



188 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Sept. 

lishment of this station, Green, with three Eskimos, 
left for the south on the 6th in our dory, loaded with oil 
and biscuit. He returned on the 8th after landing every- 
thing at Sulwuddy, where it could be easily reached 
with dog-teams from Nerky. He also brought us the 
good news of three more walrus killed near Retreat 
Cove. 

Our Eskimos were now preparing for their annual 
caribou-hunt some forty miles north of Etah, in the 
rolling hills between the shore and the front of the 
Greenland ice-cap. The coast, bare of snow at this time 
of year, precluded all thoughts of a route in that direc- 
tion. Consequently sledges and dogs are always trans- 
ported to the head of Foulke Fiord and thence to the 
back of Brother John's Glacier, the beginning of the 
great white highway leading to the north and south 
and into the interior of Greenland. Hunt, one of our 
most enthusiastic hunters, early signified his wish to 
accompany the Eskimos on this interesting trip. He 
was now busy preparing and transporting his equip- 
ment by boat and land to the face of the glacier in 
Alida Lake. 

On the 9th Jot and I were away for Nerky with our 
boat looking like a gipsy wagon, piled high with lum- 
ber for the roof of our sub-station, oil, and dog-biscuit, 
together with a heterogeneous mass consisting of two 
women, three children, two pups, skins, clothing, books, 
hunting equipment, stoves, drinking-water, and two 
dead gulls. Strung out behind us were three kayaks in 
tow, two the property of the husbands of the women 
who were to proceed with their dog-teams over the 
Greenland ice-cap, rejoining us at Nerky. Loaded as 
we were, there was not a little apprehension as to our 



1915] WAITING FOR THE SHIP 189 

safe rounding of Cape Alexander with old Torngak watch- 
ing every move from north or south. 

I am convinced that the very devil himself lives at 
that place and never sleeps. Winter and summer it is 
the same. Very few Eskimos dare to go around in 
their kayaks even in moderate weather. Within a very 
few minutes a placid, innocent stretch of water is con- 
verted into a heaving, tumbling, dangerous sea. In 
addition to this menace, there are great herds of walrus 
always feeding there which are inclined to follow a 
boat, attracted, I think, by curiosity. Some weeks 
previous, when passing that point, an Eskimo following 
us in his kayak uttered a terrified yell. We turned 
quickly and rowed back as a herd of walrus could be 
seen gaining rapidly on him. Our speedy arrival 
turned the herd to one side, much to the Eskimo's 
peace of mind. 

The devil, upon this occasion, doubtless out of respect 
for the ladies, kept quiet and permitted us to round in 
safety and proceed to Retreat Cove, where we made our 
first camp Just after dark. Learning from Jot that a 
young walrus was here in cache, we soon had a portion 
of him out, cut up, and in the cooking-pot. "My! 
Isn't it good!" we exclaimed to one another as we sat 
in the darkness of the tent, chewing that delicious meat. 
To our surprise, upon awaking in the morning we 
found our hands and wrists literally red with blood. 
In the hasty preparations of the preceding evening, in 
our impatience, we had not even waited for the meat 
to warm through. 

When passing Sulwuddy on our second day's trip, we 
saw a walrus standing up in the water with head thrown 
back, fast asleep. With tent pole poised and ready as 



190 FOUR YEAES IN THE WHITE NORTH [Sept. 

a harpoon, and that wide-open mouth as its objective, 
noiselessly we crept toward our quarry, the children 
whimpering with fright, and the women giggling hys- 
terically. A clean miss! The look on the face of the 
astonished animal as he opened his eyes almost into ours 
was truly comical. He tore an immense hole in the 
water trying to get under it. 

Herds of white whale with their dark-gray young 
passed and repassed our boat throughout the trip. It 
was interesting that they had not disappeared at this 
time of the year immediately after the departure of 
the little auks, as they are said to do by the Smith 
Sound Eskimos. It is the firm belief among these peo- 
ple that the white whales feed upon these little auks 
which they follow south in the fall. They are from 
fifteen to twenty feet long and of a creamy, yellowish 
white in color, and furnish about 9,400 pounds of blub- 
ber. ''Singing canaries" they are called by the sailor 
of the North, because of a peculiar whistling note some- 
times compared to the Tyrolian yodel, sometimes to a 
jew's-harp, and the music is often heard even in the 
cabin of a ship. The Smith Sound Eskimo can easily 
detect the difference between the whistle of the white 
whale and the whistle of the narwhal, which is a much 
lower tone. The white whales are extremely acute in 
hearing and can only be approached with the utmost 
caution. 

T^^e^ we saw a herd approaching directly in our 
path, we tested on the oars and remained perfectly 
motionless and noiseless. In spite of this precaution, 
they disappeared fifty yards in advance of our boat and 
reappeared a hundred yards in the rear. The raw skin 
of the white whale is considered a great delicacy in the 



1915] WAITING FOR THE SHIP 191 

Smith Sound tribe, and the oil, equally with that of the 
narwhal, is the very purest and best for heating and 
lighting purposes. 

A third day at the oars of the heavily loaded boat saw 
the finish of our forty-mile row. The green grass at 
Nerky was fairly dotted with the white bodies of twenty 
Arctic hare. Jot squatted on the shore and, resting 
his elbows on his knees, killed five before they decided 
that he was dangerous. The Eskimo girls looked over 
the old stone houses and generously offered us the 
largest and by far the best, standing well back from the 
shore. For days we threw out bones, decayed meat, 
old skins, and wet grass. Finally, despairing of ever 
digging down to something really clean, we decided 
to cover everything with white sand from the beach. 

In the mean time, Al-ning-wa and Ah-ka-ting-wa had 
been digging and scraping in their respective and pro- 
spective homes. This house-cleaning in the North with 
a pointed stick would certainly interest our matrons 
here at home. Chloride of lime would help some, but 
a good strong smell scares away the devils, so the Eskimos 
say. I do not doubt it for an instant. It is fortunate 
that such an effective weapon is such a common pos- 
session. 

Arklio and Oo-bloo-ya, the looked-for husbands, ar- 
rived with their dogs and sledges via the Greenland ice- 
cap on September 13th. We immediately made prepara- 
tions for an expedition to the head of the bay after 
a boat-load of grass which should serve as a covering 
for our winter homes against the bitter temperatures 
which were sure to come within a few months. The 
Eskimo igloo, covered with sod, then with dry grass, 
skins, and, lastly, with that almost perfect insulator. 



192 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Sept. 

snow, can be made surprisingly comfortable and warm. 
The mast, boom, and sails of our boat were applied to 
the roof of our house with excellent results, giving us a 
tight roof and one which retained all the heat generated 
within. 

The 14th was a beautiful day. The bay was fairly 
alive with the heads of seals. Unfortunately, a slight 
swell rendered accurate shooting from a kayak impos- 
sible. That six were secured under such conditions was 
the cause of congratulations. Shots were heard from 
across the bay in the evening, indicating the nearness 
of our hunting-ground to that of the Eskimos of Ig-loo- 
de-houny, some twelve miles to the northeast. 

A tremendous surprise awaited us on the early morn- 
ing of the 15th. The cry of "Fire!" or even of "Mur- 
der!" could never have startled us more than the awful 
yelling which issued from Arklio's tent. A few seconds 
convinced us that something was coming. "Putter . . . 
putter . . . putter," could then be faintly heard — a motor- 
boat! I could hardly believe my blinking eyes until 
the glad cry came from Jerome: "Doctor Hovey is 
here! The ship is at Umanak!" 

The long-looked-for relief had come. My heart went 
into my boots; although I was barefooted at the time. 
Within a few minutes Doctor Hovey shouted: "How is 
it for going home.^^" This was my last wish. No, I 
couldn't and wouldn't go home, with so many plans 
for another year. But how happy I was for the men, 
many of whom had no real reasons for remaining! 
Ekblaw, Tanquary, Green, and Alien were already on 
board and ready for the start; Hunt, the day previous 
to Hovey's arrival, had departed with the Eskimos for 
the northern hunting-grounds. 



1915] WAITING FOR THE SHIP 193 

The story was told in a few minutes. The three- 
masted auxiliary schooner, George B. Cluett, under the 
command of Captain Pickles, had been chartered by 
the American Museum of Natural History to proceed to 
Etah for our relief. Dr. E. O. Hovey was the official 
representative of the Museum. Absolutely unfitted for 
Arctic work, handicapped by a late start and several 
delays along the Greenland coast, the ship had essayed 
the crossing of ice-clioked Melville Bay with a disabled 
engine and with not a single man aboard who had a 
knowledge of that uncertain stretch of water or that 
inhospitable northern coast. 

Reaching Umanak (North Star Bay) after a long, 
tedious, and somewhat dangerous voyage, Doctor 
Hovey and Captain Comer, the ice pilot, decided that 
the ship should remain in that port while Doctor Hovey 
should proceed on to Etah, 100 miles to the north, in a 
large, stanch power-boat, the property of the Danish 
trading-station at Umanak. This was done with the 
help of Freuchen, in charge of the station, and his men. 
The party was now on its return to the Cluett with the 
intention of proceeding home at once. 

In consideration of the fact that Doctor Hunt was 
still in the North and that all of our equipment and 
collections were at Etah, my desire to remain for an- 
other year was strengthened. Jot immediately sig- 
nified his desire to remain with me. Within a few 
minutes good-bys were said and the boat sailed away 
to the south, leaving us with our letters from home 
and the latest news of the great world war which seemed 
so remote and unrelated to our primitive life here — 
existence in a canvas tent upon the shores of a Green- 
land fiord. We can never forget the oranges brought 



194. FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Sept. 

to us by Doctor Hovey. We rolled them in our hands, 
smelled of them repeatedly, tossed them into the air, 
and then — gave most of them to the Eskimos. Wliat a 
curiosity they were and how much they were enjoyed! 
WThat exclamations of surprise upon hearing that these 
yellow balls were picked from trees! Trees high above 
their heads! The creeping willow vine, possibly at- 
taining the size of one-half inch in diameter, is the 
largest "tree" among these people. 

It seemed strangely quiet after this slight touch with 
the homeland. The curtain had lifted but for a mo- 
ment; but in that moment we had seen much — ^green 
fields and extensive forests, the horizon of a blue sea 
dotted not with icebergs, but with the sails of passing 
ships, great cities teeming with life, the familiar rooms 
and faces of our homes, loved ones who were anxiously 
awaiting our return. We folded up the letters and 
planned for the day's work. 



X 

THE WINTER OF 1915-16 

WE were now in for at least another year in the 
Arctic, and our first task centered about supplies 
for the coming winter. And, strange as it may seem, 
our immediate work was gathering grass. Although it 
is not generally associated with the Arctic regions, 
grass is one of the most valuable products of the North- 
land, and, fortunately, for the comforts of the Eskimos, 
there is an abundance in the vicinity of every village. 
An excellent insulator against cold, it is highly prized 
for padding in the sealskin boot, for the large comfort- 
able beds, and for the roofing of the winter rock houses. 
Unlike his brother in North America, the Smith Sound 
native lives for nine months in the year in an excavated 
clover-leaf -shaped room; the walls, floor, and ten-foot 
entrance are of stone. Formerly the roof, supported 
by the cantilever principle, was of slate rock. To-day 
we find it consisting generally of wood and skins; the 
former obtained from the white man in trade for skins 
and ivory. 

Although the temperature upon the floor of such a 
house, due to the open, semicircular entrance from the 
rock-walled passage to the open air, may be, and often 
is, at zero, that upon the bed platform, eighteen to 



196 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Sept. 

twenty inches in height, is from 60° to 80° Fahrenheit. 
Naturally when the house is crowded much of the 
warmth is radiated heat from the bodies of the people. If 
you want it any warmer, bring in another Eskimo! 
Here the little children tumble and roll and laugh in 
the warm skins, unencumbered with any clothes what- 
ever. The unembarrassed lady of the house herself sits 
sewing or chewing the sole of a boot, cross-legged, be- 
side her soapstone lamp, clad only in a much-abbreviated 
pair of foxskin trousers; her body surprisingly white 
in spite of the fact that she has not washed it for the 
last forty years! Faces and hands, however, are regu- 
larly wiped with the fat-absorbing birdskins. 

When I left North Greenland in 1909, I presented to 
In-ah-loo, a fat, good-natured dame, one inch of a 
Williams shaving-soap stick. Upon my return, four 
years later, with marked pride she dug from the bot- 
tom of a sealskin bag the same inch! She liked to 
smell of it! 

To a white man the odor of an unwashed Eskimo is 
unmistakable and well pronounced. To an Eskimo the 
smell of a washed white man is just as pronounced, 
and probably just as disagreeable. It is simply the 
question of a choice of perfumes. Strange to say, after 
a few weeks' contact with these primitive children of the 
far North, that all-pervading and once offensive odor is 
indistinguishable; it has become commonplace, and 
ceases to notice. Or has the olfactory nerve, discouraged 
by such a constant load, given up in despair .^^ 

On the 16th Jot and the Eskimos, in our sailing-dory, 
rowed to the head of the fiord for a load of grass. This 
is never cut, but is pulled and broken close to the ground. 
Megishoo, oldest daughter of Oo-bloo-ya, stood on the 



1915] THE WINTER OF 1915-16 197 

slope of a hill, grabbing out with both hands and pulling 
as if her life depended on it. She missed her hold, fell 
over backward, and, rolling the whole length of the 
slope, landed abruptly in a seated position on the sand 
beach, with bewilderment predominant in every feature 
of her young face. 

During the next week we were busy hunting walrus 
and seal up and down the coast from Nerky to Sul- 
wuddy, caching our meat under the rocks for use during 
the dark period. But I worried considerably over the 
fact that our house and all of our equipment and col- 
lections were left unprotected by the departure of the 
men. If any one quality can be attributed to an Es- 
kimo, it is that of carelessness. Doctor Kane's Advance 
and Peary's Anniversary^ Lodge were both burned short- 
ly after the departure of the men southward. If our 
house should burn, what then.f* An irreparable loss, 
and a death-blow to all future work! 

Every day but accentuated my fears. The summer 
season had closed. The nights were dark. Fields of 
ice, lately broken from the inner bays in the far North, 
were strewn the length of the coast. New ice was 
forming. I looked at our somewhat battered twelve- 
foot, flat-bottomed punt, the pride of our fleet, and 
wondered if she could do the forty-eight miles. When- 
ever I thought of our house and food and clothing, I 
would walk to the beach and examine the punt; then 
some new phase of the daily work would divert my at- 
tention and the house and equipment would be for- 
gotten; but not for long. 

On the 23d (September) a drizzling rain fell all day. 
There was not- a breath of wind; the dark, lead-colored 
sea was as smooth as a pond. Here was my oppor- 



198 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Sept. 

tunity. At four in the afternoon of the 24th the rain 
ceased and the clouds rolled away, revealing blue 
patches of sky — every promise of a good, starlit night. 
With a good-by to Jot and the Eskimos, who looked a 
bit astonished, I was off with only my sleeping-bag and 
a half-dozen crackers. 

For rowing in the Arctic one should have bow-facing 
oars or an eye in the back of his head. Two collisions 
with bergs during the night, ending with head in the 
bottom of the boat and feet sticking up, were sound 
and convincing arguments that the structure of the 
human body might be improved upon. 

At Peteravik a herd of walrus arose to the surface as 
the dark form of the boat passed over their supper- 
table. Not quite understanding the nature of the 
stranger, they followed slowly and critically for some 
distance. 

Before I reached Sulwuddy it was dark. A few miles 
beyond I was startled by a tremendous beating of the 
water right under the bows of my boat. "Walrus! 
fish! whale! what in the world!" I exclaimed in suc- 
cession. And then I could discern in the semi-darkness 
through the flying spray the hurrying, scurrying black 
forms of young eider ducks! They were not yet able 
to fly, but with the rapid beat of their strengthening 
wings they could skim the surface surprisingly well. 
Within a few weeks they would be off on their 2,000- 
mile journey to their winter home off the coasts of 
Maine and Massachusetts. 

When nests are robbed repeatedly and the young are 
hatched in consequence late in August, the mothers 
often fly off to the south, leaving their young to struggle 
for an existence against cold and wind and ice. The 




HEAD OF TWO-THOUSAND-POUND WALRUS 



1915] THE WINTER OF 1915-16 199 

abandoned fledglings undoubtedly perish and are often 
found dead along the ice-foot and in the fresh-water 
ponds. 

Cape Alexander, just half-way between the Arctic 
Circle and the Pole, was before me. It was never ap- 
proached in a small boat without a certain apprehension, 
because of the extreme uncertainty of the weather con- 
ditions. Skies may be blue and waters on either side of 
the cape like a mirror, but at the end there is generally 
a devil's dance! Eskimos in view of the cape daily 
look to it for a prophecy of the day. Seated in a little 
skin boat, twenty inches wide and nine inches deep, 
wind is what the native fears; and this is foretold by 
a white cloud hanging low upon the summit — an unfail- 
ing sign. This cloud is undoubtedly due to the sudden 
condensation of the comparatively warm, moisture- 
laden air of this vicinity (the stretch of open water has 
a temperature of 29.2° F. above, both winter and sum- 
mer) brought about by the downward rush of cold air 
from the Greenland ice-cap. "The cape has her white 
cap on to-day," was always an excellent reason for 
hugging the shore in the day's hunting. 

In the dark no cap was visible. A slight chop at the 
very tip of the cape gave evidence that all was not well 
to the north. A few heavy squalls as I rounded cau- 
tioned me to follow the shore and not strike across for 
the Crystal Palace Cliffs, four miles away. Swiftly the 
little punt raced on into a dense fog with a rapidly in- 
creasing and following wind and sea. The faint dawn 
now disclosed a dark mass in the mist, which, to my dis- 
gust, proved to be the wave-washed face of the Crystal 
Palace Glacier, informing me that I was well off my 
course. Past experience, when sledging, with ever 



200 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Sept. 

changing and revolving winds in this bay, should have 
proven more profitable. A change of direction and an 
hour's hard pulling against the sea brought to view the 
rocks of the Crystal Palace Cliffs whitened with the 
surf. Beyond this point there was scarcely a breath 
of wind. 

Foulke Fiord was frozen over and the land was white 
with new snow. With the flood tide the ice had risen, 
leaving a lane of water along the shore leading to the 
house, which I reached at a quarter to ten. To my sur- 
prise, upon stepping from the punt at the finish of this 
nearly eighteen-hour row, I was a bit unsteady on my legs, 
due perhaps to the fact that I had had no nourishment 
since leaving Nerky at four on the previous afternoon, 
except two ounces of crackers. 

The house w^s safe, but how strangely quiet! And 
how cold and cheerless! There was a deathlike stillness 
in the rooms now vacated by the men, and evidence 
everywhere of their hurried departure. A crackling wood 
fire in our big Crawford cooking-stove removed the chill 
and the dampness; a few minutes with broom and hands 
removed all traces of disorder and untidiness, Borup 
Lodge was a home again, and would be for two years 
more. 

Two days later I saw Hunt approaching the home on 
his return from the annual caribou-hunt. How I pitied 
him ! He had left a charming wife and a beautiful little 
six-year-old daughter in the homeland; and Northern 
work had not been so attractive as he had hoped. I 
walked out to greet him and to learn of his success. 
E-took-a-shoo had killed twelve caribou, Ak-pood-a- 
shah-o two. The other men had gone on toward north- 
ern hunting-grounds. Just before we reached the door 



1915] THE WINTER OF 1915-16 201 

I said, "Well, Hunt, the boys have gone." And, noting 
his bewildered look, I went on to explain: "Doctor 
Hovey has been here in a power-boat. The ship reached 
North Star Bay." No one could have taken this crush- 
ing blow more bravely than he did, a blow which cut 
him off from home and friends for one more year at 
least. Plans and promises to have him sledged by the 
December moon to South Greenland, where he could 
reach the United States by steamship via Copenhagen, 
were all speedily refused; he would stick it out to the 
end. 

We now made preparations for the winter. A new 
heavy iron stovepipe replaced the old; holes were 
patched in our shed; double windows were put on; coal 
was weighed daily. Meteorological observations were 
taken as usual, with daily sea temperatures. 

On October 5th the nev/ly formed harbor ice was all 
blown out to sea by constant winds. But by the 15th 
it was again forming, and two days later it was strong 
enough to bear our weight. During the next ten days 
Hunt, at my request, secured a valuable set of soundings 
of Foulke Fiord (so far as I can learn, the only set), 
showing the depth to which the glacier of centuries ago 
chiseled and carved its bed out of solid rock as it flowed 
on majestically from the ice-cap to the sea, between 
what are now 1,000-foot cliffs rising abruptly from the 
water's edge. 

Day by day the Eskimos were returning from the 
northern hunting-grounds with sledges loaded heavily 
with skins. They reported that the party which had 
settled in the spring at the head of Dallas Bay had but 
little meat, and would probably soon return. Jot ar- 
rived from Nerky on the 28th by way of the ice-cap. 



%0% FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Oct. 

accompanied by Arklio and Oo-bloo-ya, as I had in- 
structed. 

On the 31st I was off for a 120-mile run to North 
Star Bay in search of food which Doctor Hovey prom- 
ised to land in that vicinity. A merry party we were, 
consisting of eleven sledges and 100 dogs. Open water 
at Cape Kendrick compelled us to go south by the ice- 
cap route; and to gain it we descended the valley south 
of Port Foulke, marked by the striking-looking butte 
memorialized by Doctor Hayes as the "Sonntag Monu- 
ment." Our camp on the summit that night was very 
picturesque — not a breath of air, a clear, star-studded 
sky, two illuminated tents, two blazing open fires, ten 
dog-teams sleeping at the edge of the dimly lighted circle; 
and, throwing out long shadows into the darkness as 
they tumbled and fell amid shrieks of laughter, the 
Eskimos old and young playing "blind man's buff." 
This was followed by cross tag, and then we retired to our 
bags for a hard day on the morrow. 

A snowstorm confronted us the next day. How could 
we find our way with nothing to guide us.^* Impossible! 
Within an hour we were lost and almost doubling on 
our back trail, as was plainly evident from the wind, 
which at the start was well to the right and now was 
blowing behind us from the left. At length an old 
sledge track, cutting our course at a sharp angle, was 
discovered, and followed to rocky headlands projecting 
from the ice-cap and leading to the Clements Markham 
Glacier south of Cape Chalon (Peteravik). Now began 
a wild race down the back of the glacier to the sea. The 
whips snapping, the men yelling, the women calling to 
one another, the children crying, the sledges jumping, 
diving, and slewing — a veritable pandemonium! 



1915] THE WINTER OF 1915-16 203 

Fearing lest my sledge should capsize, I was strug- 
gling with the upstanders to direct it, when a wild yell 
from E-took-a-shoo close behind us warned me of ap- 
proaching danger. His sledge crashed into mine, and, 
both stopping suddenly, his dogs snapped the hitching- 
strap and tore off down the slope. Immediately came 
another warning cry as E-say-oo's blacks shot between 
us; and his sledge, on which were piled all of his worldly 
goods, was added to the wreck. Ah-nah-we, his wife, 
and ten-year-old Nup-sa, who were perched on top of 
the load, did not stop with their conveyance, but invol- 
untarily continued on their way, the former landing 
upon her stomach among the dogs, and the latter upon 
his nose against E-took-a-shoo's load. The stream of 
blood and the yells which followed were both checked 
with considerable diflSculty. At length the runaway 
dogs were whipped back up the hill, the sledges and 
harness were disentangled, and laughter replaced groans. 

We spent two nights at Nerky to feed and strengthen 
our dogs with seal meat which we had cached there in 
the fall. Our next camp was made at Ig-loo-nark-suah, 
rather than attempt to crowd into the already well-filled 
igloos at Ig-loo-de-houny. Here, to my surprise, I heard 
one of the Eskimo boys humming the air of "Auld Lang 
Syne." He had learned it from our victrola! 

On the morning of November 4th we deemed it im- 
prudent to attempt the route to Kah-na over new ice 
now doubly treacherous because of a thin covering of 
recently fallen snow. The color of ice is constantly 
noted to determine its thickness. But at noon three 
more sledges arrived with the same destination in view. 
Encouraged by numbers, we now went on together, 
somewhat gingerly, across McCormick Bay to Cape 

14 



204 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Nov. 

Cleveland over ice so thin that, upon passing, our sledge 
tracks were seen to soak water. 

On the shore at our left Peary was landed twenty- 
four years before with a broken leg. He would not go 
home. He would do what he came to do. There he 
built his little home called Red Cliff House. He was 
the first to put absolute faith in these Northern natives, 
hitherto considered untrustworthy. He was the first 
to win their confidence. From this point he began that 
long march over the icy dome of Greenland to Inde- 
p>endence Bay, a bold reconnaissance for his magnificent 
work of later years. 

Little did I dream of the surprise awaiting me among 
the lights of the village of Kah-na, now just showing 
far down the shore. Oo-tah, of North Pole fame, came 
running out to meet me as I drove in. Bit by bit I 
gleaned the latest news. First, that all my supplies 
were at Ip-swee-shoo, which surprised and disappointed 
me, since Doctor Hovey had promised to land them at 
Umanak (North Star Bay). I reasoned that the ship 
had been driven out of North Star Bay by the ice, and 
had landed the provisions at Parker Snow Bay as she 
passed south. He next informed me that Green was at 
Kangerd-look-suah and was on his way back to Etah. 
He must have thought my hearing was entirely gone 
when I requested him to rei>eat this very slowly and dis- 
tinctly three times. And then I was by no means con- 
vinced. I had imagined Green by this time at the 
Army and Navy Club in New York safely eating peach 
ice-cream and chocolate frosted cake, delicacies which 
he had talked about so many times on our first trip. 

"And the men.?^" I inquired. 

"Oh, they are all there," he replied. 



1915] THE WINTER OF 1915-16 205 

It now began to look much as though the main ex- 
pedition would relieve the relief expedition. But to- 
morrow I would meet Green and know everything. 

All the igloos were crowded. Rather than squeeze in 
between two highly perfumed natives and awake cov- 
ered with lice, I preferred to pitch my tent on the ice 
and sleep alone. There are no guest-chambers in the 
Northland. One room in a house; and that room mostly 
bed, and in that bed everybody sleeping — father, moth- 
er, all the children, and all the visitors. Naturally it is 
a commodioi^s bed and deep in skins and grass. Each 
morning the lady of the household reaches in under 
the skins and pulls out handfuls of grass for the boots 
of her lord and master and of her children. By early 
spring the once soft mattress has disapi>eared piece by 
piece, and soft spots on this rocky couch are rather diffi- 
cult to find. 

Oo-tah called to pay his respects in the evening in 
company with his newly acquired South Greenland 
wife, ordered of Rasmussen. In giving this commission 
Oo-tah negligently failed to specify just what was 
wanted. His first look was not encouraging. A closer 
examination was discouraging. He didn't want her and 
he said so; nevertheless, he bravely received her for better 
or worse, without ring or promise or other ceremony. 
He feels better now. He realizes that he must have 
been mistaken as to her commercial value. Being a 
stranger in the tribe, she exchanges fairly well for the 
wives of his friends, and is even loaned for a month at 
a time without being missed. One man in speaking of 
his wife declared that she was nearly perfect. She had 
one fault only — she didn't like to be loaned! 

In the evening of November 5th, Green arrived in 



206 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Nov. 

company with Freuchen, and reported the relief-ship, 
George B. Cluett, frozen in for the winter at Parker Snow 
Bay, about ninety miles by dog-team to the south. 
She was ill-prepared to spend a winter in the North; 
the crew were without warm clothes and had but httle 
food. 

Doctor Hovey had decided to retain on board the 
ship the provisions sent up to me by my good friend, 
Mr. M. J. Look, of Kingston, New York. A long letter 
from Doctor Hovey informed me fully of the situation, 
of his grave fears for the winter, of his plans to have 
the party sledged to South Greenland in company with 
the annual mail-teams leaving about January 1st, and 
of his great desire for as many skins as I could possibly 
gather. He requested that Doctor Hunt should be 
sent to the ship at once to attend tq sickness on board. 
This news made it necessary for me to go back to Etah 
immediately, for we must now relieve the relief. How- 
ever, we could not start back tliat daj qq accoimt of 
a violent wyid which drove us out of our slatting tent 
and into the shelter of an ab.an4oned igloo. 

An early start and propitious weather on the 8th 
enabled our dogs to cover thirty miles on the back trail 
to Ncrky, where we rested on the 9th, preparatory for 
the forty-eight miles to Etah. From here Na-hate-e- 
lah-o was sent on to headquarters with instructions to 
Doctor Hunt to make preparations to proceed to the 
ship upon my arrival. 

Open water off Clements Markliam Glacier turned us 
back to Nerky on the 10th. This was but preliminary 
to a long, vexatious delay due to darkness and falling 
snow, both extremely dangerous when dealing with thin 
ice and leads. Poor Green had been suffering for some 



1915] THE WINTER OF 1915-16 207 

days with a bad tooth. On the morning of the 17th he 
could stand it no longer, and begged me to start for Etah 
where he could place himself under the doctor's care. 
He will never forget that ride. With a tooth jumping 
and throbbing, the pain aggravated by every inrush of 
that extremely cold air, he pluckily drove his team over 
the Crystal Palace Glacier, a perfect smother of rushing 
snow and wind. 

For a few hundred yards, as we rounded the Crystal 
Palace Cliffs, I had never encountered any weather like it, 
darkness and rough ice being added to the blinding, 
drifting snow. Not a man could face it. How the 
dogs did I do not know. A few minutes' trial at leading 
the caravan resulted in a frozen face and a dropping 
back to the rear, and the second adventurer had no better 
luck. When we reached Borup Lodge my face was so 
frost-bitten and I was so covered with snow that Jot 
did not know me. He and Hunt were astounded upon 
seeing Green and hearing of the detention of the ship 
far down the coast. 

On the 22d, with three sledges piled high with sldns 
and equipment. Hunt left for the ship at Parker Snow 
Bay. On the 25th, Thanksgiving Day, the remaining 
members of the Crocker Land Exj)edition, three in all, 
sat down to a glorious dinner consisting of roast caribou, 
mashed potato, turnips, cranberry sauce, cinnamon roll, 
mince pie, plum pudding, chocolate sauce, and what 
Jot called "shammy," half grape- juice and half whisky, 
and coffee. This menu is fairly good proof that we, in 
Etah, were not yet in need of relief. 

On the 29th Green refused to travel without the aid 
of Eskimos, and requested me to obtain help from Nerky, 
if possible. This trip was replete with thrills from start 



208 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Dec. 

to finish, and nearly cost us our lives. As we reached 
Cape Kendrick we found the ice very thin, but went 
on, trusting to luck rather than upon our best judgment. 
In a few minutes my dogs began to shove their feet 
through the ice, one dropping in completely. Finally, 
my sledge broke through. Yelling to the dogs, I threw 
myself forward onto the bow, ready to grasp the traces 
if the sledge should go under. They immediately re- 
sponded to the call, straining with every ounce that was 
in them, and succeeded in pulling the sledge out on to 
solid ice. 

Now we were in a predicament; it was so dark that 
we could see but a few yards, and that few yards seemed 
all open water and thin ice, completely encircling the 
floe. E-took-a-shoo, after carefully probing for some 
time with his harpoon, finally located a narrow strip 
over which we urged the dogs on the run. The young 
ice bent like leather, but fortunately held. But when 
we reached the south side of the Crystal Palace Glacier, 
to our disappointment the sea ice was entirely gone. 
Plodding along an ice-foot through deep snow in the 
dark, falling into cracks, at times using all our strength 
to save our sledges from falling off into the sea ice — 
well, it was not work that would have appealed to 
the most ardent enthusiast of the Arctic. We arrived 
at Sulwuddy covered with sweat and suffering from 
thirst. 

Our run the next day to Nerky was without incident 
until we reached the rough ice off the front of the 
Diebitsch Glacier. Here in the darkness and deep 
snow we wandered aimlessly for some time until the 
stars enabled us to direct our course for Cape Robertson. 
One day's rest at Nerky for our dogs, and back we 



1915] THE WINTER OF 1915-16 209 

started on the forty-eight-mile trip to Etah. Darkness 
and open water both uttered a decisive "No!" to this 
plan before we had been gone two hours; then it began 
to snow, and continued to do so until the 8th, giving us 
an opportunity to try the northward trail once more. 
Leading off from the front of the Clements Markham 
Glacier was a narrow strip of black water, and on the 
other side were two dog- teams with their drivers curled up 
on their loads and sound asleep, waiting for the lead to 
freeze. Lashing two sledges together, the older men 
made a bridge over which the two boys brought their 
sledges and their dogs. Their report of the condition 
of the ice northward precluded any further attempt to 
advance for that day. 

On the 13th we were off again, encountering at the 
same place the same lead, but twice as wide. Chafing 
considerably at the long delay, I told the Eskimos that 
we must go over the glacier. We found this covered 
with nearly two feet of soft snow through which we 
wallowed and waded without snow-shoes, fairly tumbling 
down the northern side, the sledges and dogs nearly 
buried. From here we wallowed and waded again for 
a mile, finally landing upon the hard ice-foot. What 
a relief it was to snap the whip and feel the jumping, 
racing sledge bounding into Peteravik! 

Three o'clock of the next day found us rounding Cape 
Chalon and laboriously tracking through deep snow all 
the way to Sulwuddy. Here, after a consultation with 
the Eskimos, it was decided, because of the extremely 
heavy wind of the day before, that our chances for mak- 
ing Etah were excellent. For five miles the sea ice was 
perfect, cleared and swept by the wind. 

About two miles below Retreat Cove open water com- 



210 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Dec. 

pelled us to take to the ice-foot. Here our troubles 
began. Huge snow-drifts on the hillside fell abruptly 
into the sea. It was more like mountain-climbing than 
sledging. We cut our way along these dangerous 
slopes with our hatchets, so hard and slippery that it 
was impossible to walk upright on them. Three times 
my sledge skidded down the slope and disappeared over 
the edge, being held only by the bow, the dogs dropping 
to their bellies and clinging to the hard snow with their 
toes. The first time I was foolhardy enough to hold 
on to the sledge and try to save it. When on the very 
brink I realized that I was gone and prepared myself for 
the splash into the water which I knew to be below. 
To my astonishment and satisfaction, the water only 
reached my waist, for it happened to be low tide, thus 
saving me from a complete bath. The sledge was with 
me, bottom up, with bows resting against the face of 
the ice. With the help of Ka-ko-tchee-a, I was soon out, 
beating the forming ice from my bearskin pants with 
the snow-beater and stripping off the wet boots to be 
replaced with a dry pair of Ak-pood-a-shah-o's. Within 
a half-hour the devil-bewitched sledge repeated this 
operation twice. Once it was saved by fat old Ah-took- 
sung-wa, the wife of Panikpa, who sat down on the 
traces and called lustily for help. 

My sledge was now a mass of ice and my sleeping- 
bag full of salt water. I must go on. A low tempera- 
ture on the surface of the glacier would have made it 
most uncomfortable for us that night, covered with 
perspiration as we were from our late exertions. Fort- 
unately, there was a light breeze and a temperature 
of only ten below. Sixteen hours was our time for the 
forty-eight miles, the longest and hardest trip over 



1915] THE WINTER OF 1915-16 211 

that course for four years, a course which we had re- 
peatedly covered in nine hours. 

Within two days we were headed for the ship at 
Parker Snow Bay, each sledge loaded with about 350 
pounds, all the equipment requested by Doctor Hovey 
and consisting of pemmican, oil, skins, clothing, snow- 
shoes, and trading material. Familiarity now with the 
dangerous spots along the ice-foot below Cape Alex- 
ander enabled us to complete the trip with safety and 
much more easily than we had done a few days before. 
At the end of the trip, however, we were ready to crawl 
into our warm bags and eat all that the law allowed. 

At Nerky, Ah-now-ka handed me a letter from Doctor 
Hovey, stating that the food was very low and that 
their condensed milk, butter, and sugar would all be 
gone in a very short time. It was absolutely necessary, 
he thought, that they should all leave the ship and go 
to Etah. Ever mindful of the needs of the men on 
board, as we proceeded through the Eskimo villages 
we continued to trade hareskin for stockings, ook- 
juk-skins for boot soles, and dogskins for mittens. 
Good going all the way down the line spurred us on 
to reach Umanak on Christmas Eve, where Freuchen 
was expected to entertain all the members of the Crocker 
Land Expedition. 

In contrast to our visualization of a warm, well- 
lighted house, plenty of food, and a jolly, laughing 
band of men, we found a cold, dark house inhabited 
only by a few Eskimos. The joys of a home Christmas 
were very, very far away from us that night. The 
arrival of Freuchen, Hunt, and Captain Comer on the 
next day, however, partly compensated for our loss of 
a happy Christmas; the latter was the ice pilot on the 



212 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Dec. 

Cluett and a famous old whaling captain from East 
Haddam, Connecticut. I had never seen Captain 
Comer before, but I had read much about him; a 
thorough seaman, he interested me greatly. 

The dijfference in the temperature between Etah and 
Umanak was very noticeable. Etah, because of its 
contiguity to the large strip of open water always found 
off Cape Alexander, and because of the adiabatic heating 
from the downrush of air from the summit of the Green- 
land ice-cap, is considered to be the warmest settle- 
ment in the North; it has a mean annual temperature 
of + 8° F. On December 26th at Etah, the lowest tem- 
perature recorded during the day was fifteen below zero; 
at Umanak, North Star Bay, upon the same day, the 
temperature stood at forty-two below. 

I learned from Freuchen that the plans for sledging 
the boys south were very indefinite. Fearing a repeti- 
tion of the hardships of our 1915 trip, I deemed it 
necessary to consult mth Doctor Hovey at once. On 
the 26th, in company with Na-hate-e-lah-o, I proceeded 
over the land southward to Parker Snow Bay, reaching 
the ship about seven in the evening, to be greeted 
in Eskimo by Captain Pickles as we drove up to the 
rail. Ekblaw, Tanquary, Allen, and Doctor Hovey were 
comfortably quartered in the after cabin of the ship; 
the first three looked the picture of health, but the last 
named seemed old and decidedly unfit for the sledge 
trip planned across Melville Bay. In view of the fact 
that only four men could be transported to Upernavik 
by the Eskimos, Doctor Hovey and I decided that, 
including himself, the party should consist of Tanquary, 
Allen, and Green, all of whom were very anxious to 
go; and, coincidentally, the least fitted, in the opinion 



1915] THE WINTER OP 1915-16 213 

of Doctor Hunt, to withstand the rigors and privations 
of a third year. Tanquary, I hoped, would consent to 
remain with Ekblaw and Hunt at the sub-station at 
North Star Bay. The stubs of his toes were healing 
rapidly. Doctor Hunt, who, for many reasons, should 
have been given first place on the retreat, magnani- 
mously consented to remain in the North, where his ser- 
vices, in case of sickness or accident, either at Etah, 
Umanak, or on the ship, could be available. 

With plans completed and everything settled I was 
away again northward by way of the sea ice, reaching 
Umanak in twelve hours with my face a bit frosted. 
My dogs, fed on caplin {Mallotus villosus), were now 
in wretched condition, for they had been traveling for 
three months with but little rest. Not an ounce of 
meat at Umanak, and the dogs too weak to travel ! 

Koo-la-ting-wa, a good fellow, lived at Netchilik, 
some sixty miles north. His caches were filled with 
narwhal. I would send for him to come at once and 
bring meat for my dogs. On the third day he was there 
with all the meat needed, enabling me to start right 
back with him and the other Eskimos on January 4th. 

Koo-la-ting-wa accompanied me all the way to Etah, 
where we arrived on January 12th, finding Jot, the only 
white man left, happy and well and full of interesting 
experiences which he could narrate in a most masterly 
manner. Jot is a born story-teller, drafting his partially 
bald head, his wizened face, his arms, hands, and body 
completely into his service as a raconteur. 

During my absence We-we, our house servant, dis- 
covered a can of whisky in the medical department. 
Jot consented to her request that she should hold exer- 
cises commemorative of her two-year anniversary at 



214 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Jan. 

Borup Lodge. After pouring out the precious beverage 
into six cups, she placed them carefully on the pantry 
shelf to await the arrival of her invited guests, all of 
whom felt highly honored and very much elated in 
anticipation of the promised treat. Unsuspecting, she 
left the room. Upon her return some minutes later 
things did not look right nor smell right. 

Seated in the middle of the floor was Noo-ka-ping-wa, 
her youthful husband, wearing a foolish grin, spasmodi- 
cally broken by hearty guffaws and accompanied by a 
swaying of the body and a slapping of the palm of his 
hand against his thigh in self-congratulation at his 
trickery. The whisky was gone! Noo-ka-ping-wa had 
celebrated the anniversary by drinking enough for six! 
Result — a fine drunk and then a drag-out an hour later. 
The invited and expectant women, failing utterly to 
appreciate the incident, walked solemnly back to their 
tea and dog-biscuit. 

Contrary to the general understanding of Arctic work, 
every hour was fully occupied, even through the dark 
days of winter. There were meteorological observations 
to be recorded, chronometers to wind, barographs and 
thermographs to attend to, twelve dogs to care for and 
feed, food to be dug out of the snow, meat to be secured 
from caches down the coast, frozen eggs to be brought 
from Littleton Island, and constant preparations going 
on for the long, forthcoming spring trip which I was 
planning to make to King Christian Island. 

If it were not for such busy days, one would certainly 
become demented with the almost constant howling of 
the violent winds peculiar to Foulke Fiord. We often 
drove from the beauty and quietness of a perfect Arctic 
night ten miles below Etah into a maelstrom of whirl- 



1916] THE WINTER OF 1915-16 215 

ing snows swept from the neighboring 1,000-foot hills 
toward the open water in the middle of the Sound. 
Such weather conditions were a bit discouraging to a 
man ambitious to maintain his good health by daily 
exercise, which is just as essential as good food. How 
we berated those winds! And yet we realized that but 
for those winds our fiord would be deep with snow, 
making good walking and sledging most difiicult. With 
hands clasped behind the back and body thrown for- 
ward, so that our heads were level with our waists, we 
have bucked those biting winds for weeks and months. 

Panikpa surprised us on January 31st with the report 
that he had seen and fired at two caribou at Alida Lake, 
four miles from the house. Sixty years ago they were 
so numerous that often 100 could be counted feeding 
around the shores of this lake. Doctor Hayes, when 
wintering across the harbor, having more fresh meat 
than he could possibly use, fed his dogs upon caribou 
meat. 

Panikpa's report put every one on the alert. Caribou 
meat at this time of year would make a delightful change 
from walrus and seal. Continuous heavy wind and 
snow, however, discouraged us from climbing the hills 
to the plateau above, the wind-swept feeding-ground of 
Arctic hare, caribou, and, in years gone by, of musk- 
oxen. Many of the massive skulls of the last named 
were found in the vicinity of Etah. At the present 
time, however, this species does not exist upon this 
western coast until the latitude of 81° is reached. 

On February 14th a drop in the wind and a rise of 
temperature to eighteen below zero started both Jot 
and me out with our rifles, I to the lake, where there 
were unusually large numbers of blue foxes, and Jot 



216 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Feb. 

to the plateau, where he discovered two caribou. They 
were the first he had ever seen and they more than 
attracted his attention. He declared afterward that 
buck fever was a kind of paralysis. That he was not 
wholly affected is shown by the fact that he shot both 
of them. 

Laying aside his rifle, he walked toward the edge of 
the cliff, and within a few minutes found himself face 
to face with three more. By this time he was consider- 
ably excited, and arrived at the house quite out of 
breath. He and Panikpa started back at once, without 
their rifles, with the intention of shooting the bodies 
down the 1,000-foot sloi>e to the sea ice, where I would 
be stationed with the dog-team. Two hundred yards 
from the house four more caribou popped around a cor- 
ner only a few yards away. Jot arrived at the house 
wild-eyed, shouting that the country was crawling with 
caribou ! 

Because of deep snows covering their feeding-grounds 
between Etah and the Humboldt Glacier, the herd was 
evidently migrating south along the shore in search of 
various lichens, ground-willow, grass, and moss. Many 
were killed in our vicinity within the next six weeks; 
they were all small, the heaviest weighing only 120 
pounds. 

This is not the white caribou (Rangifer pearyi) which 
we had killed on the northern shores of Axel Heiberg 
Land in 1914, but a variety of the European (Rangifer 
groenlandicus) , once existing in vast numbers from the 
Humboldt Glacier, latitude 79° 10', throughout the 
whole stretch of coast-line southward to Cape Farewell, 
latitude 59° 49'. 

Formerly hunted with bow and arrow and even with 



1916] THE WINTER OF 1915-16 217 

tlie killing-iron, the reindeer, or caribou, had a chance 
for his life; but since the advent of the modern high- 
powered rifle the species has decreased rapidly in num- 
bers. At one time 16,000 skins were exported annually 
from the royal trading-stations of Greenland; at the 
present time hardly a skin leaves the country. 

An interesting belief exists among the Eskimos of 
Baffin Land in regard to an albino caribou. This cari- 
bou, supposed to have been hatched from a white egg 
somewhat larger than that of a goose, must never be 
killed, for death to the hunter would follow unless cer- 
tain penalties, imp>osed in violation of the taboo, were 
suffered for one year. For example: (1) he must not 
work an iron; (2) the hood of the coat must be worn 
over the head; (3) he must wear a belt; (4) blood must 
not be removed from the clothing. If these customs, 
are not observed, the offender will be covered with boils 
and will certainly die. If, on the other hand, nothing 
is done to displease a caribou, the man will become a 
great angakok, a shaman, or medicine-man. 

News reached us by dog-team on February 15th of 
the departure of the mail-teams southward bearing Tan- 
quary, Allen, and Green back to civilization; and of the 
expected physical breakdown of Doctor Hovey, which 
had compelled him to return to the ship. He was game 
to the last, and did not give up until he had convinced 
himself that it could not be done. 

On Washington's Birthday we were off to the south, 
our impatient and well-rested dogs almost uncontrollable, 
and covering the distance between our lodge and Port 
Foulke, Hayes's winter quarters, within a few minutes. 
Again, as in the past, my impetuosity nearly cost me my 
life. My dogs, leading by 200 yards, dashed south- 



218 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Feb. 

ward over the sea ice almost to the water's edge, when 
repeated warning cries from the Eskimos revealed the 
startling fact that I was adrift on a large sheet of ice. 
The telltale crack had caught the sharp eyes of the 
natives, while the unsuspecting and inexperienced white 
man had driven straight on into danger. 

Around we whirled and back we went into the face 
of the rising wind, but, oh, how slowly! What was the 
matter with my dogs ! The crack was steadily widening, 
but as yet not too wide for the leap. As I looked back 
at the white patches drifting to leeward into the heavy 
vajxjr arising from a white-capped sea, I knew that 
life out there would be a matter of only a few hours. 
To swim would have been the only recourse and the 
fatal result almost certain. 

A survey from the summit of the hill below Port 
Foulke revealed open water at Cape Kendrick to the 
south. Heavy wind on the ice-cap, as evidenced by 
the smoky appearance above the rounded dome, com- 
pelled us to abandon our trip and return to Etah. 

A few hours after our arrival, to our astonishment 
old Ak-kom-mo-ding-wa and his wife, Inah-loo, were 
seen driving across the harbor from the south, causing 
the Eskimos to remark laughingly that they must have 
come by ship. They confirmed our fears of open water, 
having followed the ice-foot for days on their way north- 
ward, and at last reaching home by encircling the 
Crystal Palace Cliffs and Cape Kendrick at the edge of 
the glacier, returning to the sea ice by way of the Sonn- 
tag Pass. 

A few days later a repeated "Ah-ch6ok, ah-ch6ok, 
ah-ch6ok," coming from the darkness well out in the 
fiord, was followed by the appearance of two sledges 



1916] THE WINTER OF 1915-16 219 

and three men — Ekblaw, Mene, and Oo-bloo-ya. Open 
water had compelled them to cross the ice-cap from the 
head of the Clements Markham Glacier. Missing the 
Sonntag Pass, they had attempted a descent on the 
south side of the fiord, resulting in considerable excite- 
ment and the wrecking of Mene's sledge. 

Ekblaw had been one week on the road. He re- 
ported that Captain Comer was in charge of the sub- 
station and that Doctor Hunt was at the ship, where 
he was needed in attendance upon a young man suffer- 
ing with tuberculosis of the bowels. His recovery was 
considered doubtful. Doctor Hovey was in very poor 
health, but was slowly recovering from the keen dis- 
appointment experienced by his compulsory return. 

It was good to see Ek again, for Jot and I had talked 
each other pretty well out. Fortunately, we were born 
in the same place, Provincetown, Massachusetts, and 
had much in common. Every wharf, building, home, 
street, person, crab, and fish was talked over again and 
again. In naming every house from one end of the 
old town to the other we stood ready to correct each 
other if a single mistake were made. 

The long spring trip was always the culmination of 
our winter's work and plans. A few more skins for 
boots and mittens, and rawhide lines for sledge lashing 
and whips, were needed; these could undoubtedly be 
secured at Nerky, to which we directed our course on 
the 29th, via the ice-cap route. 

Due to a strong northeast wind and heavy drift, 
Mene and I lost Oo-bloo-ya and Noo-ka-ping-wa within 
an hour. As we arrived in sight of the projecting cliffs, 
in the region of Cape Saumarez and Cape Robertson, 
neither of us knew where we were. I had been there 

15 



220 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mar. 

only once before, and then by moonlight, and Mene 
had never crossed from north to south. 

We hardly knew what to do in our dilemma. To 
await the men and have them pass unseen would result 
in our sleeping on the ice-cap with no sleeping-bags — 
not a warm outlook. There were ominous discomforts 
and no small amount of danger in going on. A descent 
by the wrong glacier might result in a drop into one of 
the numerous intersecting cracks, or we might bring 
up against a vertical face blocking our course com- 
pletely. 

We went on. The sastrugi (wind-carved ridges) cut 
our path at right angles, and the intervening hollows gave 
to our sledges the motion of a ship in a heavy sea. I 
was too much occupied with the antics of my own sledge, 
and I soon lost Mene as he disappeared in the dark- 
ness, stern first, after running over his dogs and cap- 
sizing his sledge. He was waiting for me at the bottom 
of the Clements Markham Glacier, having made record 
time. 

Even here, where sea ice generally exists, there was 
open water, which forced us to take to the ice-foot 
along the shore until we were blocked by a projecting 
buttress. As we had no testing-iron, we wisely ran no 
risks; we could plainly see phosphorescence on the sur- 
face of the ice, indicative of only a few hours' freezing. 

We made tea and ate a piece of chocolate — all we 
had — under a shelf of rock. Within an hour the other 
two men overtook us, exclaiming that they thought we 
were back on the glacier. 

As we were about to prepare for the night, to my 
astonishment we saw a light out on the ice. Noo- 
ka-ping-wa was looking it over with a candle, and he 



19161 THE WINTER OF 1915-16 221 

declared it to be perfectly safe. We drove on at once 
to Nerky and remained three nights. 

On the return trip we spent a few days at Kah-gun 
in the snow houses of Tung- we and Teddy-ling- wa. 
With the constant breaking away of the sea ice they had 
had no opportunity of hunting walrus or seal, and con- 
sequently had but little food. In one of the igloos 
rockweed (Fucus) was being boiled for the children, a 
food which is never resorted to until all other sustenance 
is practically gone. 

In the ascent of the Clements Markham Glacier on 
the 7th my big king-dog dropped down a crevasse. 
Fortunately for us both, his trace and harness were 
strong enough to sustain his weight until pulled back 
to safety. A much too valuable dog to lose. His price 
had been five gallons of oil and a three-burner stove. 
But a dozen stoves or a hundred gallons of oil wouldn't 
buy him now! Nale-gark-suah was the largest dog in 
the whole Northern tribe, and, although one of the 
oldest, he was still one of the very best. He was a 
noted bear-hunter and yet as affectionate as a child. 
When he placed his great paws on my shoulders his face 
was on a level with my own. 

We directed our course to Etah by the most direct 
way, a bee-line to Brother John's Glacier; but when in 
sight of land a heavy mist rolled up from open water, 
obliterating all familiar marks. It was a question now 
as to which course to follow. The glacier (Brother 
John's) might be dangerous at this time of year. The 
Sonntag Pass was too far to the southwest and was 
lost in the mist. Before us to our left stretched the 
boulder-strewn plateau, the summit of the great hills 
above Etah. We knew that the Eskimos sometimes 



222 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mar. 

traveled by way of the plateau and we ventured to try 
it, although neither of us had ever been that way. 

Every rock and knoll looked like a mountain in the 
magnifying mist. So deceiving were appearances that 
for some minutes I was in doubt as to our being in the 
vicinity of Etah at all. At length we recognized a small 
butte, visible from the door of our house, and this identi- 
fied our location positively. 

So compact was the snow on the slope downward to 
the sea ice that it was entirely out of the question to 
consider driving down, or even holding back on the 
sledge with the dogs in the rear, an expedient often 
adopted on a sharp descent. Whereupon Noo-ka- 
ping-wa resorted to the ruse of placing the sledge on its 
side, the ends of the crossbars and one upstander scor- 
ing the snow deeply and serving as an effective brake. 
The dogs, threatened with the whip, sat back in their 
harness and helped considerably. Finally, covered with 
sweat, barehanded and bareheaded, and stripped to our 
undershirts, we arrived at the surface of the fiord, and 
within a few minutes stood in front of our door. 



XI 

TO KING CHRISTIAN ISLAND 

N Sherard Osborn's journal, under date of April 29, 
1853, appears the following passage: 

About thirty miles to the N. W. (or more), I distinctly saw 
land looming; it appeared extensive, and I took the bearing of the 
two parts of it and not the extremes. 

This land was seen from the northwestern extremity 
of Bathurst Island and was called Finlay Land. 

On April 27, 1901, Isachsen and Hassel, of the Sver- 
drup Expedition, when sledging along the southern 
shores of Ellef Ringnes Island, descried a land which 
was subsequently named King Christian Island. 

Geographers have considered Finlay Land and King 
Christian Island to be one and the same land, the 
southern part in 76° 53' N. and the northern in 77° 50', 
with an area of some 3,000 square miles. Up to the 
date of our sailing, the unity of these two lands had been 
accepted without question. To encircle, map, and ex- 
plore one or both was the task assigned to me in ac- 
cordance with our plans for a survey of the region north 
of the Parry Islands, as announced by the American 
Museum of Natural History. 

"Strong northeast wind with heavy drift" is the 



224 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mar. 

common entry in my journal for the first seventeen days 
of March, 1916. Wind and drift, man's two great an- 
tagonists in the North, so thoroughly hated and cursed 
by the Arctic explorer! "Hellish" is the only fittingly 
descriptive word. Man hums to himself, calls cheerily 
to his dogs, and laughs aloud in temperatures of fifty 
and sixty below, clothed as he should be, like an Eskimo; 
but wind at that temperature cuts like acid, blackens 
the face, and whitens the fingers. 

Through the drift, swirling about our house and 
across the fiord, I anxiously watched the harbor entrance 
for crawling black dots — dog-teams coming from the 
south, my Eskimo helpers who had promised to be at 
Etah on March 15th. Carefully I had made out their 
calendars; carefully I had instructed them, whenever 
it grew dark, to cross out a day; then, when the last 
day was gone, they were to come to me. I had abso- 
lute faith in these black-haired Polar children. They 
had not forgotten. Wind and drift would not stop 
them. Open water was the cause of their delay, and 
so it proved to be. 

Before breakfast on Sunday morning, March 19th, 
there was the glad cry of " In-yuk-suit alla-kuk-a-yoot!" 
("Eskimos are coming!"). Such an early arrival indi- 
cated that open water and thin ice had been encountered 
a few miles south the night before, both dangerous to 
deal with in the darkness. One man only was missing, 
and I could not wait for him. I decided to get away on 
the 22d with six Eskimos with very light loads. Travel- 
ing light and fast, we could round and map King Chris- 
tian Island and Finlay Land (neither of which had 
ever been visited), and return to Etah before the ice 
of Smith Sound broke up in June. If too late in re- 



1916] TO KING CHRISTIAN ISLAND 225 

crossing, I could establish quarters at Cai>e Sabine and 
there await the relief-ship, which was expected in 
August. 

March 20th, the advent of spring at home, was a 
howler — blowing, snowing, drifting, and seven below. 
Our Eskimo women took a last look at our boots and 
mittens, examined each carefully for rips, and softened 
the soles and padded in dry grass. 

The storm continued on the 21st, with no prospect 
of ceasing. The barometer mounted to the extraordi- 
nary height of 30.83. 

On the morrow I jump out of bed to the tune of 
rushing winds and driving snow. "Don't you think for 
a minute you are going to hold us up," I mutter to 
myself as I yank on my kamiks. Strange how conver- 
sational a man gets to be with the elements of the 
North! He treats them as living personalities; he 
abuses, curses, and fights them to the limit. When 
drifting snows bury dog and sledge and trail ; when faces 
and fingers are black with frost and lips cracked and 
bleeding; when the numbed hands refuse to work; when 
thin ice and open leads offer no escape; when the wind 
suddenly whips around and cuts off the path which 
leads toward home; when dogs drop with weariness in 
harness and follow with eyes which haunt for days the 
retreating forms of their masters; when blackness blots 
the stars and grips the earth, and fuel is low; when 
rocks leap and bound from the cliffs above, grazing 
tupiks, men, dogs, and sledges — what better proof that 
this is the chosen home of Torngak, the evil spirit? 
Animism is real and is easily understood. When amid 
the shriek of winds the Eskimo hears strange voices in 
the blackness of the Arctic night, and sees strange forms, 



226 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mae. 

I do not smile or question. They are as real to tlie sav- 
age as God is to the civilized man. 

For months my Eskimos have known my objective 
point. The way is long, the time is short, yet they are 
willing to face wind and drift if I say the word. "Once 
around Sunrise Point and we shall have the drift at 
our backs," I say, encouragingly. They smile as they 
pull their kool-e-tahs over their heads. They are going 
far to the west, to a new land, where none of their 
tribe have ever journeyed, and there we shall see strange 
things. There we shall kill musk-oxen, and polar bears, 
and white wolves, and caribou, and Arctic hare. And 
meat! Our sledges will be red with meat. And skins! 
Our beds in our winter igloos will be warm and deep in 
skins. What ideal traveling companions the Eskimos 
are! Children in their simplicity, men of iron in their 
make-up. Tireless and fearless; happy and confident; 
honest and faithful; savage, yet full of kindness of heart; 
ignorant, yet truly educated; lawless, yet lawful; im- 
moral, yet shaming the moral; healthy, strong, vigorous, 
intelligent — such is this primitive man who knows noth- 
ing of our boasted civilization. 

Rounding the Sunrise Point of Doctor Hayes, we 
swing up past historic Littleton Island. It is the focus- 
ing-point of Smith Sound history. Swept by winds, 
worn by the Arctic pack, it stands in the swirling tides 
of Cape Ohlsen as a guide-post to the Pole. 

With wind and drift at our back, we fairly raced 
through the narrow channel between Littleton Island 
and the mainland, and were soon lost among the rough 
ice north of the Polaris' s winter quarters. To my sur- 
prise, the ice beneath the deep snow was very thin and 
treacherous. Four of my team were soon floundering 



1916] TO KING CHRISTIAN ISLAND 227 

in a deep hole. Three of the dogs, in their endeavor to 
get out, scrambled onto the back of the king-dog. For 
a few minutes I thought that he would surely be 
drowned. Weighing nearly one hundred pounds and 
thoroughly water-soaked, it was only with great diffi- 
culty that I succeeded in getting him onto the surface 
of the ice. 

Gradually we picked up one another near Cairn 
Point, each man's clothes driven full of snow, and his 
sledge resembling a small iceberg. Open water off Cairn 
Point drove us over the land to Ka-mowitz, where we 
built two snow houses. Only twenty below zero! What 
a contrast to my night here two years before at fifty- 
four below! I remember well my entanglement of 
frozen traces and well-nigh frozen fingers. There is a 
certain kind of work which one cannot do with mit- 
tened fingers, such as repairing a harness, knotting a 
trace, or making a whip-lash. It is then that one sings 
familiar songs and wonders if "somewhere the sun is 
shining." 

Shortly after starting in the morning, we narrowly 
escaped a bad accident. Ah-kom-mo-ding-wa, my oldest 
Eskimo, got away first and dashed along the ice-foot 
some ten feet above the water. As he rounded the 
curve of a small bight, fifty yards from camp, about ten 
yards of ice-foot, which had been clinging to the vertical 
face of the cliff, dropped into the sea with a crash, leav- 
ing him fairly tottering on the very edge. My heart 
was in my mouth in fear for the safety of him and his 
team. The old man smiled, waved his hand, and then 
chuckled at our predicament, wondering how we would 
get by. It was certainly ticklish work, where a slip 
or mistake in judgment meant a very cold bath. 



228 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mar. 

Joining Ak-kom-mo-ding-wa one-half mile beyond on 
the sea ice, we were delighted to find a royal road stretch- 
ing across Smith Sound and apparently leading directly 
to Victoria Head, forty miles distant. Five miles out 
I said good-by to Kae-we-ark-sha and Tau-ching-wa, 
two boys who had helped us with our loads. 

In 1861 Doctor Hayes and his men consumed thirty- 
eight days in crossing this stretch of ice; the answer — 
inexperience and poor judgment. In 1914 we crossed 
repeatedly in six hours by traveling on the thin ice at 
the edge of the water. 

With the head of Flagler Bay as my objective point, 
I kept well north for Victoria Head, the first day cover- 
ing about thirty miles, and camping in the midst of a 
maze of bear tracks. This was encouraging, as we were 
depending upon the country to supply us with meat 
for at least half the time. 

Starting out on the 24th, we could see the termination 
of our smooth white highway only a few miles ahead. 
"A hard trip," I thought to myself, "for the rest of the 
way." Imagine my surprise and delight, upon round- 
ing a sharp turn, to find it continuing even broader and 
better, and — a bear right in the middle of it! The race 
was on! Ninety leaping dogs, eight bounding sledges, 
eight long, snapping whips, a long, level straightaway, 
and nanook-suah (big bear) bound for the western shore! 
Fortunately, we differ vastly as to our ideas of real 
sport. One man strides a horse and follows a pack of 
yelping hounds in pursuit of the red fox, and calls it 
"the king of sports." Another man strides a horse and 
follows a wooden ball with a mallet, and declares it 
to be the only game. The Eskimo strides his sledge, 
yells to his ten leaping dogs, and is in heaven. Seal- 



1916] TO KING CHRISTIAN ISLAND 229 

hunting is a pastime; polar-bear hunting is sport. And 
to see that magnificent, yellowish-white body, every 
movement of which denotes agility and strength, sway- 
ing gently back and forth on a snow-white pedestal, 
holding off a pack of dogs, is one of the sights of a 
lifetime. All honor to the "tiger of the north," every 
inch a fighter. 

When we blocked the door of our snow house that 
night well to the west of Cape Sabine, our dogs were 
rounded out with fresh meat, my Eskimos were antici- 
pating a delicious supper, and all were happy with the 
thought of to-morrow's work. There is a world-wide 
gap between a full stomach and an empty one. 

Thirty below to-night, a good day to-morrow. 

The next day, as we dashed rapidly along over the 
smooth ice on the south side of Bache Peninsula, the 
question uppermost in our minds was, "Shall we get 
seals at the mouth of Flagler Bay?" "Yes, we cer- 
tainly should," they all declared. How did they know 
that there would be a pool of open water far up at the 
head of a fiord, seventy-five miles from the sea.^ They 
drew their conclusions from a perfect knowledge of 
weather conditions — often a matter of life or death with 
these Northern people. In 1914 we found the ice open; 
result, seals which saved the lives of our dogs. In 1915 
it was solid from shore to shore. 

Sure enough, as we wound our way through the Wey- 
precht Islands we soon descried the water glittering in 
the sun like a bed of molten silver. The Eskimos 
hitched their dogs securely a hundred yards distant, 
loaded the magazines of their rifles, carefully coiled their 
harj)oon-lines, and were off to the edge of the ice, where 
they took up their positions, surrounding the pool. 



230 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mab. 

Within a minute a round head with extremely large 
eyes appears above the water. A whispered "Ta-koo!" 
A hurried sit down by Arklio, a careful sighting along the 
rifle-barrel, held securely with elbows on the knees, a 
sharp report. The head has disappeared beneath a 
whirl of crimson-stained water. A few inches of a 
rounded back drifts to the east with the ebb tide. The 
Eskimo grasps his harpoon and line and runs to the 
lower edge of the pool; then, and as the body is about 
to disappear beneath the ice, he buries the ivory iron- 
tipped point deep into the flesh. The game is on; we 
have scored one. Twelve seals in almost as many 
minutes ! The boys harpooned the dead from a distance 
of twenty-five and thirty feet. Here amid the silence 
of the great white hills these fur-clad figures, at ten be- 
low zero, laughed and joked and matched their skill as 
so many school-boys in the warm South. How they 
roared with laughter and gibed each other unmercifully 
when a miss was made! 

Seal meat was cached under the snow against our re- 
turn in May. Possibly we would be in extreme need of 
it, and neck to neck with time, in our race with the 
break-up of the ice of Smith Sound. Fifteen miles a day 
were necessary, come what would — strong winds, drift- 
ing snows, thin ice, little food, sickness, accidents, ex- 
treme temperatures. Thus far we had covered nineteen, 
booking up extra miles for days of enforced idleness in 
snow houses far to the west. 

On the 27th, a dog showed signs of "piblock-to," a 
strange disease rightfully dreaded by every explorer; 
it is a form of rabies, and fatal. Once it has fairly in- 
vaded a team, extermination is the certain result. It 
has thwarted many well-laid plans, has sent many a 




ESKIMO KAYAK. 



WONDERFULLY ADAPTED FOE THE PURPOSE OF HARPOONING 
WALRUS, NARWHAL, AND SEAL 




WHEN THE AH-WA-TA, THE INFLATED SKIN OF A LITTLE RINGED SEAL, 

MOVES THROUGH THE WATER IT IS AN INDICATION THAT THE HARPOON HAS 

BEEN DRIVEN HOME. IT IS ATTACHED TO THE HARPOON LINE AND SUPPORTS 

AND ALSO DENOTES THE LOCATION OF THE ANIMAL 



1916] TO KING CHRISTIAN ISLAND 231 

man back to his winter quarters discouraged, has turned 
prospective victory into utter failure. How a dog suf- 
fers! Restlessness is succeeded by whining, yelping, 
bloodshot eyes, drooping lower jaw, stupidity. Every 
dog within reach is attacked, and nearly every attack 
is fatal within fifty days. Strange to say, the dog 
craves the companionship of man, is very affectionate, 
wants to be fondled, and seems more at ease when re- 
ceiving attention. I have often seated myself beside a 
dog fairly frightful to look upon. He is trembling with 
the pain of a dozen wounds inflicted by his team-mates, 
his eyes are wild and red, his lips frothy and bloody. 
A gentle stroking of the head and the whining ceases, 
the eyes close, the dog sleeps. Is there no help? The 
Eskimo points to See-oog-ly (Arcturus), sweeps his 
arm haK-way about the heavens, and declares, "He will 
die when the star reaches that point." The white man 
adds, "He will die now with the bullet, rather than 
suffer for that length of time." 

The Flagler Pass was now before us, with its uncer- 
tain conditions from year to year. In 1899 Sverdrup 
found the valley bare of snow and rough with rocks, 
which smashed and wore the sledges, necessitating un- 
loading and packing everything to his farthest west. 
This year we had had an unusual amount of snow, which 
was encouraging for the crossing of Ellesmere Land. 
In nine hours we reached the summit of the divide. 
Nothing escaped the sharp eyes of my Eskimo boys — 
there at the base of that boulder Doctor Cook left a 
cache; here Whitney killed a musk-ox; around the 
next turn thirty hare were seen feeding four years 
ago — such were the comments as our sledges wound 
their way steadily up and on through that magnificent 



232 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mae. 

valley, the old Eskimo migration pass of centuries 
ago. 

A strong northeast wind, heavy drift, and eighteen 
below had no effect whatever upon the cheerful spirits 
of my men. The snow blocks were quickly cut from a 
sloping bank amid laughter, jest, and banter. E-took- 
a-shoo was at his best as he skilfully molded block after 
block into place. A slice off the end to bevel it, a glitter 
of the knife beneath to shape it, a thump with the heel 
of the hand to set it, and presto! — a palace. '' Tima^ 
kee-zal" ("All through — ^finished!") is the happy call 
from the inside of the white dome at the end of the day. 
And now for real comfort! The dogs are fed and se- 
curely fastened for the night; the sledges are unpacked; 
all the skins are whipped and beaten thoroughly with the 
snow-beater, a constant and indispensable companion. 

Ice is always secured for our tea, if possible; other- 
wise, clean snow will answer the purpose. The snow 
bed is buried deep with furs, on top of which are placed 
four light caribou sleeping-bags. The comfort and cozi- 
ness of an eleven-pound caribou bag! At fifty-five be- 
low zero, I have stripped naked and plunged into one 
of these bags, where I have found warmth and com- 
fort. The Primus stove is lighted, the door is blocked, 
and the day's discomforts are forgotten. 

The 29th was spent in sledging our loads to the back 
of the Ellesmere Land ice-cap in the face of a heavy 
wind and drift, which helped us, however, on the return, 
fairly blowing us down into camp from the edge of the 
glacier, the dogs racing back with empty sledges. 

To my surprise, at five in the morning there was a 
strange voice at the door, which we soon recognized as 
that of Ak-pood-a-shah-o. He had reached Etah two 



1916] TO KING CHRISTIAN ISLAND 233 

days after we left; then lie had rested his dogs two days, 
and followed us, covering 150 miles in three marches. 
I thought we were doing well to reach this point in seven. 
This is an illustration of what good dogs can do. I was 
even more surprised for him to hand me a small lens, 
one-quarter inch in diameter, which I had lost on the 
trail some forty miles back. Let there be no doubt about 
the quality of an Eskimo's eyes. 

After two hours' sleep he was ready to leave with us 
at ten o'clock. Up the glacier the going was good, the 
snow hard, and no wind. Coming down, however, we 
caught the very devil! As we descended the wind ^and 
drift increased, until finally it was a smother, blinding 
the dogs and driving into our clothes. We had per- 
spired freely going up, and now we were regular snow- 
balls. It was only by exercising vigorously that we 
could get warm with the thermometer at forty below 
zero. 

In the bed of what looks like an old lake we made 
tea and waited for Panikpa. Finally we gave him up, 
and were about to start on when he and his team of 
pups came down over the hill. 

In the mean time the Eskimos amused themselves 
by cutting figures of animals out of the snow, and the 
likenesses were remarkably good. 

A short climb from here to the summit of a hill to 
the west, and away we went down into Bay Fiord, over 
rocks, sand, boulders, and deep snow. There were many 
mix-ups and loud curses as two teams rushed together. 
Two of my traces were cut under the runners, and three 
of my dogs ran free, the snap-hooks being worthless. 
Arklio was compelled to slip his best dog, as she had 
shown symptoms of piblock-to early in the day. We 



234 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [April 

never saw her again. In the river bottom, we laborious- 
ly dragged and pushed our sledges over jagged rocks and 
stones hidden under a thin cover of snow, ruining our 
runners and tiring out the dogs. 

As we drove into Ekblaw camp of two years before, 
we detected signs of musk-oxen. The two boys with me 
were so excited that they wanted to start off immedi- 
ately, loads and all. When the others arrived, I told 
five of them to throw off their loads and follow the 
tracks, while two would remain with me to build the 
igloo. They drove east into a small fiord, but in 
about half an hour came tearing almost through our 
camp, driving west and following the trail down Bay 
Fiord. 

By this time it was two o'clock of the 31st. At four, 
Koo-la-ting-wa was back after a stove and to tell us that 
they had killed nine musk-oxen. With at keen appetite 
for fresh tenderloins, we were up at eight and dashing 
down the fiord in search of the igloo of the hunting-party. 
At forty-four below, it was easily detected at least a 
mile away by the white vapor rising from the top. 

Three more musk-oxen the next day, and tracks of a 
polar bear kept the tails of our dogs tightly curled and 
the men ever on the alert. We were soon hot on the 
trail of the biggest bunch of activity I have ever en- 
countered. After following her for five miles through 
the rough ice, we turned shoreward to find that she 
had gone into the country, then up over a high hiU, 
across a ravine, then up another hill. 

We slipped our dogs, which were soon out of sight 
and sound. Noo-ka-ping-wa and I returned to the 
sledges; Ak-kom-mo-ding-wa went on. Some of our 
dogs came back, so we harnessed up, placed Ak-kom- 



1916] TO KING CHRISTIAN ISLAND 235 

mo-ding-wa's sledge on top of Noo-ka-ping-wa's, and 
drove on to meet Ak-kom-mo-ding-wa, who was return- 
ing on another sledge to tell us that the bear had returned 
to the sea ice and had been shot by E-took-a-shoo; the 
latter, driving up the coast, had seen her coming down 
the hill to meet him. 

I quote from my field journal: 

April 3, 1916, Monday. — I am wondering how long this is to con- 
tinue — perfect weather and fresh meat every day. A bear, two 
musk-oxen, and a hare to-day. 

If I live to be a hundred, I shall never see a better scrap with 
a bear than we had to-day. About an hour after turning into Eureka 
Sound, we saw a bear sitting at a seal-hole, I should say one mile 
from shore. She did not see us coming until we were about 150 
yards away. The dogs were then at full gallop, and every Eskimo 
shouting at the top of his voice. 

She jumped to her feet, turned her black muzzle toward us, 
stretched out her neck, and sniffed the air. Then she decided to 
leave, which she did in jumps resembling the skipping of a gas- 
engine; it was a cross between a gallop and a trot. Her gait would 
have driven a good horseman to drink. A small pup of Noo-ka- 
ping-wa's was right at her hindquarters, taking a nip whenever she 
touched the ice. 

I was second in the chase, my dogs going at full speed. I turned 
to get my camera out of the case, and when I looked again I had 
passed Noo-ka-ping-wa and was within ten yards of the bear. Just 
then she turned. My dogs split, some going one side of her and 
some the other, with the result that I scooped her up with my sledge. 
When I realized that she was "coming aboard" I deserted my ship 
and ran out to one side. In a few seconds she was fighting for her 
life against ninety dogs. What a moving picture that would have 
made! They fairly buried her. 

I was running everywhere, trying to focus my camera and yelling 
to the Eskimos to shoot to save the dogs, which we could hear howl- 
ing with pain. To my surprise, there was not a rifle in sight. I 
yelled for Arkho to get his revolver, a .45. By this time the circus 
had started south, with me hanging to the back of my sledge and 
threatening my dogs in all kinds of language if they didn't stop; 
but that was the last thing they thought of doing. 

In the mean time the Eskimos were spending their time yelling 
16 



236 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Apeil 

and snapping their whips. Noo-ka-ping-wa was brandishing a 
sealing-iron, and finally threw it into the body. Seeing Ak-kom- 
mo-ding-wa hopping around with a Winchester .35, full-cocked, I 
grabbed it out of his hand, thrust the muzzle down between the 
dogs, and pulled the trigger. This ended the scrap. 

Just before sighting the bear we had seen two musk-oxen to the 
south of us on a hillside. Therefore I decided to drive down, skin 
our bear there, build an igloo, and send two of the men after them. 
In two hours they were back with two very old males. One of these, 
because of a peculiar broken horn, I have skinned for mounting. 

Our game list thus far reads: Fourteen musk-oxen, thirteen seals, 
three bears, and twelve hare. 

From our igloo on the morning of April 4th I could 
see a distant blue headland far down on the western 
side of Eureka Sound. I hoped that we could make it. 
At eight that evening, when we had about given up 
bears and musk-oxen, and were sitting on our sledges, 
holding our noses in our hands, at forty below zero, 
E-took-a-shoo sighted a bear, and away we went, for- 
getting all about the cold. This bear must have been 
the twin sister of the one we shot the day before. She 
acted exactly like her, and had the same kind of mix-up 
with the dogs. My little pup, Natu, who was running 
loose ahead of the sledge, bravely attacked the bear's 
hindquarters. She turned and gave him such a slap 
with her great paw that he rolled over and over for a 
distance of twenty feet. Every available weapon was 
used in the fight — killing-irons, revolvers, automatic 
rifles, and dogs. I have never seen dogs so savage. 
They were fairly thirsting for blood. Only a vigorous 
application of the long whips kept them from tearing 
the skin to pieces. 

After the fight Ak-kom-mo-ding-wa arrived with his 
face buried in his mitten, exclaiming that he had frozen 
his nose. The Eskimos immediately all grabbed theirs. 



1916] TO KING CHRISTIAN ISLAND 237 

and mumbled through their mittens that mine was as 
white as snow. We were all frost-bitten and didn't 
know it. 

In an hour we were on the trail again, having fed the 
meat to the dogs. We were tired and cold, but kept 
plugging ahead until we had finished our fifty miles, 
arriving at Bjornesundet. To my astonishment, after 
finishing our igloo, Ak-kom-mo-ding-wa drove off on 
the trail of another bear — excellent evidence of an Eski- 
mo's untiring activity. 

I now decided to send my first supjx)rting party back 
to Etah with loads of musk-ox and bear skins. Old 
Panikpa was poorly clothed and suffering from the cold, 
his team of pups all in. However, he had done his best, 
had never complained, and was still willing to go on 
if I desired it. He and Koo-la-ting-wa returned in the 
morning, with nothing whatever on their sledges for 
their dogs. They were to depend upon the game re- 
sources of the country. 

Leaving our igloo in the morning, we had a fine run 
of about five miles over good ice along the island shore. 
We then proceeded diagonally across Ulvef jorden toward 
a valley which appeared as though it might support a 
herd of musk-oxen, but we failed to see anything. 
Fresh bear tracks along the shore, with feet bunched, 
showing full speed, revealed traces of a bear seen by 
the boys from the last camp the day before. The dogs 
caught the scent and went south rapidly to a point 
where we found tracks of musk-oxen and could see 
through the glasses the hills dotted with Arctic hare. 
Within a few minutes the boys secured five and one 
ptarmigan. 

We celebrated April 6th, the date of the discovery of 



238 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Apeil 

the Pole, by having a cup of condensed coffee, a great 
delicacy in the field. 

Strange to say, although going true west along the 
southern shore of Axel Heiberg Land, our compass 
course was about sixty degrees east. In other words, 
to go west we headed by compass northeast by east, 
one-quarter east. In a few days more we would be 
heading exactly east to go west. This reminds me of 
the old man's clock, of which he remarked, "When she 
strikes three and the hands point to ten in the morning, 
I know she is quarter past five in the afternoon." 

From the camp of April 7th I could see the loom of 
North Cornwall on the western horizon, bearing about 
thirteen degrees east of magnetic north. 

All anxiety over my meat-supply was relieved on the 
8th, when the men returned to camp, after a fourteen- 
hour hunt, with thirteen musk-oxen; sledges piled high 
with rich red meat and thick warm skins. A hard bear- 
fight here resulted in the loss of Arklio's king-dog and 
the severe wounding of one of E-took-a-shoo's. We were 
also compelled to shoot one with rabies, the fifth since 
leaving Etah. 

Scarcely a mile from Musk-Ox Camp and another 
bear suddenly appeared in front of us. With three dead 
dogs behind us and one riding, unable to walk, we did 
not need to be admonished to "hold our horses." Our 
respect for the fighting qualities of this western bear 
was steadily increasing. Arklio wounded him from his 
sledge, going at full speed, before the dogs could reach 
him. We buried the meat and skin on the trail for our 
return. 

All along the southern shore of Axel Heiberg Land 
the snow was marked with tracks of foxes, ptarmigan. 



1916] TO KING CHRISTIAN ISLAND 239 

and lemming. We found lumps of bituminous coal, 
apparently of good quality, in every river-bed. 

A short marcli on the 10th brought us to Cape South- 
west of Axel Heiberg Land. We had covered 345 miles, 
at an average of seventeen miles a day. Our dogs, the 
all-important items of our equipment, were still in good 
condition, thanks to musk-oxen and bears. Thus far 
we had lost six, one tossed by musk-oxen, two chewed 
and clawed by bears, and three from rabies. My men 
were happy and eager to proceed. 

I could not but help contrast my condition with that 
of exactly two years before, when I reached the northern 
end of this same land. With clothes driven full of snow 
from facing a bitter wind all day, we dug our way into 
a snowbank and shivered, and finally slept from sheer 
weariness — the Peary method, no sleeping-bags. 

Tracks of musk-oxen along the ice-foot prompted 
Ak-pood-a-shah-o to hitch up his dogs and start for 
meat, following the building of the best snow house I 
have ever slept in. It was so large — thirteen feet six 
inches in diameter — that the roof began to sag within 
twenty-four hours. 

At ten- thirty in the evening, right under the blazing 
sun low in the north, we saw the sledge coming, and 
heard Noo-ka-ping-wa, who had gone to meet it, shout: 
"Maii-loo-ner' ("Two!"). Laughing and shouting, we 
escorted Ak-pood-a-shah-o into camp, as if he were a 
victorious general returning from the front. The dogs 
were fed to the limit. And then we feasted on raw 
frozen brains and delicious marrow from the cracked leg- 
bones. What gluttons we were! "Eat it all; clean it 
up. More can be obtained to-morrow," illustrates the 
incurable optimism of the Eskimo. But to-morrow we 



240 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [April 

failed, hunt as hard as we could. Tracks everywhere, 
but not a musk-ox could be found. 

My older two men, Ak-pood-a-shah-o and Ak-kom- 
mo-ding-wa, were sent back from this point. The former 
had tears in his eyes, pK)or fellow. He wished to go the 
whole way, and I wanted him to go, but I was afraid 
his wife was without meat and even without an igloo. I 
waved to them as we headed west, over an apparently 
limitless field of ice, with Amund Ringnes Island as our 
objective point. Old Torngak had his eyes on us, send- 
ing a cold wind and a drift which obscured everything 
but our dogs. A good hard surface was soon succeeded 
by a slumpy crust, tiring the dogs and presenting a hard 
footing for us, walking in the rear of the sledges. For 
eight hours and forty minutes we traveled, with only 
two stops of ten minutes each to untangle our traces. 
Clearing weather enabled me in the evening to get 
bearings of North Cornwall, a high mountain on Amund 
Riitgnes Island, and prominent points of Axel Heiberg 
Island. 

I quote from my field journal: 

April 13th, Twenty-third day. — Just eight hours from our igloo out 
on the ice, a total of sixteen hours and forty minutes from Cape 
Southwest. I should estimate our rate to be about three and one- 
quarter miles an hour. Allowing fifteen minutes each for four stops 
to untangle traces, our actual time was fifteen hours and forty 
minutes. That makes the distance fifty and eight-tenths miles. 
To save our dogs, we have walked half of this, at least. 

Yesterday afternoon a land appeared northwest of us which did 
not correspond with anything on the map. I obtained a bearing of 
it of 79° east. I thought that possibly, as we went on, it might fit 
in somewhere, but to-day it is as much of a mystery as ever. My 
Eskimos declared it to be Cape Ludvig, and that we had missed and 
passed what we headed for. Calculating mentally the local apparent 
time, and taking a bearing of the sun, I told them we were all right 
and that the new land was not on the map. 



1916] TO KING CHRISTIAN ISLAND 241 

I could see that they were incredulous. As we worked west, 
however, it soon opened out by Amund Ringnes Island, proving 
itself to be a long, narrow island about fifty feet above the surface 
of the ice, I should judge. We find here along the shore tracks of 
caribou. To-morrow we shall stop and try for game to save our 
pemmican. We were obliged to feed yesterday and to-day, which 
cuts us down twenty pounds each. 

Temperature — 23° at eight o'clock. 

Having fed on pemmican for two days, I was a little 
concerned about the game-supply on Amund Ringnes 
Island, realizing that the extent of my work depended 
upon good fortune in this particular. My fears were 
set aside, however, when we sighted a bear with two 
cubs far out on the ice of Hendrickson Sound. They 
had heard us as we rounded the point to the east, con- 
sequently they had a good start. Our attention was 
first called to a streak of blood on the snow; then we 
saw the demolished seal igloo, and finally the carcass. 
Arklio, with the field-glasses, made out the bears headed 
at full speed for North Cornwall. 

Hastily we threw everything from our sledges and 
whipped up the dogs. In the mean time, Noo-ka-ping- 
wa's team had left without him, heading west along 
the shore, and he after them, calling for them to stop. 
Gradually they headed offshore, and he was soon in 
the chase with us. And it was a chase! For five miles 
we went as fast as I have ever been on a sledge. My 
young dog, Pee-see-a, fell, and in a second was being 
crushed under the bows of my leaping sledge. Creeping 
forward, I managed to get a grip on his collar and yank 
him free. 

The mother bear, with two little ones by her side, 
could now be seen plainly. She stopped twice and 
started back as if determined to defend them, but the 



242 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [April 

sight of forty leaping dogs with mouths open robbed 
her of her courage and she went on. 

Noo-ka-ping-wa sHpped his dogs from the sledge to 
overtake and round her up. Vigorously plying his 
twenty-six-foot whip in front of our leaping dogs, he 
yelled for E-took-a-shoo and me to run on with rifle 
and camera. Scarcely had I gained a vantage-spot when 
E-took-a-shoo's team, excited beyond control, swept by 
with a rush of whirring legs and bounding sledge, fol- 
lowed by Arklio's ten blacks with flying traces. 

In the midst of rifle-shots and yelping dogs I de- 
tected an unfamiliar sound of pain — the cry of a baby 
bear. Hurling myself upon three dogs, I wrenched the 
fluffy white ball out of their mouths and held it high 
above my head out of the reach of the leaping dogs. The 
little fellow, not appreciating the timely help of his 
rescuer, buried his sharp white teeth deep in my wrist. 
Gradually he became more tractable, sniffed of my bear- 
skin pants, and wondered if his mother were still on her 
hind legs. 

In the mean time Arklio had shot the bear and Noo- 
ka-ping-wa had returned with the other cub and with 
a bleeding lip; as he clasped the cub to his breast to 
protect it from the dogs, it had grabbed him by the 
mouth. Both cubs were now crying for all the world 
like children with the croup and would not be comforted. 
We placed them upon the dead mother and they ceased 
whining at once and began to suck her breasts. In- 
teresting to note, they were now no longer afraid of us, 
knowing that if their mother did not protest it must be 
all right. We lashed her to my sledge, placed the cubs 
on the body, and drove to land in search of our loads. 

Our camp that night was on a small island not on 




AL-NING-WA, THE WIFE OF ARKLIO 



1916] TO KING CHRISTIAN ISLAND 243 

the map, one mile off the southern shore of Amund 
Ringnes Island, and unique as to its position, being 
practically midway between the Magnetic and North 
Poles of the earth. Theoretically, the compass varia- 
tions here should be the extreme 180°; north should be 
south, and east west. "As true as the needle to the 
Pole" is but an empty phrase. Actually following such 
an injunction, no man could be more fickle, more un- 
trustworthy, more uncertain in his purpose in life, or 
more devious in his wanderings. 

The meridians here are so numerous that one could 
easily imagine our white way as being roughened with 
ribs leading to that lone spot at the apex of the earth. 
What explorer was it who, approaching the Pole, dis- 
covered, to his astonishment, that his snow-shoes were 
jammed between the meridians .^^ Discouraging, after 
traveling so far and with the goal in sight! 

Uppermost in one's mind in the North is the all-im- 
portant question, "Have we enough to eat.?" I had 
depended upon these vast snow-covered trails for rich 
red meat, strength and energy to my dogs, and success 
to my plans. Apparently it was a dead world, a world 
at rest beneath its mantle of snow and ice, all animal 
and vegetable life swept away; so, at least, it seemed to 
be from our camp of April loth, as I awaited the reports 
of my three Eskimo boys who had gone back into the 
hills. All returned empty-handed late in the afternoon, 
but they reported traces of caribou, ptarmigan, and 
hare — somewhat encouraging. 

At nine-thirty the excited yelps of our dogs notified 
us of the arrival of visitors, two large white wolves. 
The dogs were frantic in their demonstrations for a more 
intimate acquaintance. E-took-a-shoo's team, the most 



244 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [April 

vociferous, could contain themselves no longer; they 
leaped as a solid body, tearing out their fastening. The 
wolves took to their heels, bounding lightly over the 
sea ice to North Cornwall, easily outstripping their 
more cumbersome cousins. 

Before leaving this camp we blocked up carefully 
the door of the igloo containing the skin of the mother 
bear and the skins of the two cubs, which I concealed 
carefully in the canvas cover of my blanket bag, an- 
ticipating possible visitors. 

As we left this camp on the 16th, it was very evident 
to me that Pee-see-a, my pet dog, who had been crushed 
under the bows of my sledge two days before, was suffer- 
ing intensely. I slipped him from harness, allowing him 
to follow at his ease, hoping that by night he would 
be stronger and better. Long after we had made camp 
in Hassel Sound I saw him slowly making his way among 
the ice hummocks toward our igloo. I went back on 
the trail to meet him. He came up, placed his head 
and paws wearily in my lap, and said, as plainly as a dog 
could, "I am all in." Together we walked slowly 
back to camp, our last bit of companionship. He had 
followed me faithfully almost from the time when his 
brown eyes first saw light; and now he was to go alone, 
on the silent trail, far from the sound of snapping dog- 
whips and yelling Eskimos, to a land where loads are 
light and the going is smooth. The harness dangling 
from my sledge was a constant reminder that I had 
lost a good friend — the first on the trail after several 
thousand miles of travel. 

On the 17th we reached the southern shore of Ellef 
Ringnes Island. The dogs had now traveled some 468 
miles. Day after day since leaving home their little 



1916] TO KING CHRISTIAN ISLAND 245 

legs had reeled off their seventeen miles. A few were 
sick, and with loose trace were endeavoring to keep their 
places in the team. All were tired and needed strength- 
restoring meat. One bear alone since leaving Cape 
Southwest of Axel Heiberg Land was but a mouthful 
for forty hard-working dogs. 

April 18th was given over to a careful searching for 
game among the hills of Ellef Ringnes Island. Not a 
thing but the tracks of a lemming. Was game failing 
us at the very time when we needed it most.'^ At five 
o'clock the haze which so often accompanies a low tem- 
perature ( — 33° F.) lifted from the ice, revealing on the 
distant horizon King Christian Island, our objective 
point. On the 19th, six hours and a quarter's travel 
brought us to the low shore which stretched back into the 
interior culminating in peaks some 2,000 feet in height. 

We eagerly scanned the shore and hills for tracks of 
game, far more important to us than a careful examina- 
tion of the physical characteristics of the country. 
With food we could do everything or anything; if it 
failed, nothing. 



XII 



BACK ACROSS ELLESMERE LAND 

rilHE Demon of the North jealously guards his secrets; 
-■■ thus it has ever been. The ponderous doors which 
guard and encircle his domain are the massive, ever- 
stretching, relentless ice-fields which grip and grind and 
crush the hearts of ships, thwarting the best-laid plans 
of men. 

The weapons which assail the explorer are extreme 
temperatures, heavy snows, drift, bitter winds, treach- 
erous thin ice, high-pressure ridges; and often the result 
is starvation diet, sickness, death. Through the cen- 
turies man has struggled ever on and out over No Man's 
Land, rushing the thin ice of leads, scaling towering 
ice-caps, staggering along uncharted coasts, and wearily 
planting his flag upon hitherto unknown truths, glorying 
in his struggle against the elements for the accumula- 
tion of knowledge. 

Only a few bits remain of the world's uncharted 
regions. This was one of them — a survey of the unex- 
plored shores of King Christian Island. " Ah-no-uk- 
suah! Pilt-sucJc-suah-tau!'" ("Much wind and also heavy 
drift!") was my morning greeting. Why couldn't the 
Fates have been kinder.^ Let such weather come at any 
time but this, when food was low and dogs hungry. 



1916] BACK ACROSS ELLESMERE LAND 247 

The three Eskimo boys, cheerful as usual, put on their 
heavy caribou coats and disappeared into the swirhng 
drift in search of hare, caribou, or musk-oxen. Within 
a few hours they were back, white with snow and nearly 
blind with drift. Alas! they were empty-handed! 

April 21st was a continuation of the 20th — wind and 
heavy drift. Reluctantly I ordered thirty-nine pounds 
of the precious pemmican fed to the dogs. There was 
nothing to do but forget my hopes and ambitions, hum, 
sing, tell stories, and enjoy my Eskimo companions. 
I got out the cards, made the boys a checker-board, and 
played the harmonica until my mouth was sore. One 
incident of the day caused me considerable anxiety. 
Arklio was seated beside me on the bed platform re- 
pairing a dog harness. Inserting the keen-edge blade 
of his pocket-knife in a loop, he endeavored to pull it 
through by main strength. The loop suddenly burst, 
releasing the knife, which buried itself deeply in his face 
between the inner corner of the left eye and his nose. 
With a whispered "A-tew!" he pulled it out and blinked 
at me through the flowing blood. "His eye is gone!" 
was my first thought, at the same time fearing that the 
blade had penetrated the thin cavity wall to the brain. 
But with a small strip of adhesive Arklio was quickly as 
good as new. 

By noon of the 22d I had made my decision; I would 
return east that day, following a round of angles from 
the hills and a run down the coast south. We built a 
cairn, inclosed a record of our visit, took sights with the 
sextant for longitude, latitude, and azimuth, and broke 
camp. Within a half-hour we were heading home in a 
heavy snowstorm. What kaleidoscopic changes we ex- 
perience in the Northland ! How uncertain are the con- 



248 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Apeil 

ditions there! As luck would have it, when within a 
mile of our Ellef Ringnes Island camp a bear stalked 
out from behind a berg and walked directly toward us. 
Perhaps he was hungry, too. In such an emergency, the 
Eskimo's instinctive thought is his rifle; mine the 
camera. In an instant both were leveled out over the 
backs of our leaping dogs. As the bear turned, evidently 
mystified by our strange appearance, Noo-ka-ping-wa 
f>opped him from his sledge and released his dogs. 
Both disappeared into a large hole between the base of a 
berg and a snowbank. Instantly my dogs plunged over 
the bank, and as my sledge p>oised on the very brink, 
giving me a view of the struggling mass, I snapped the 
shutter and rolled to one side, exclaiming: "I got him! 
I got him!'* With the camera clutched in one hand, I 
grabbed at the top of the bank with the other, tearing 
away a section and rolling ignominiously into the howl- 
ing, yelping, fighting mass. Distance certainly does 
lend enchantment! A polar bear has beautiful teeth, 
and on a sunny day, mounted upon a pedestal of snow, 
with the limitless ice-fields as a background, he is one 
of the noblest of nature's creations — at a distance. I 
scrambled and crawled away from this beautiful thing 
just as rapidly as my forty-two years would permit. 
Another shot from Noo-ka-ping-wa's .401 and there 
was the bear, dead — the long-needed fresh meat. My 
pleasure at the thought of it was considerably mitigated 
by the sight of one of my dogs crawling toward me 
on his breast and whining piteously. With one blow of 
his great paw the bear had flattened him to the ground, 
crushing his hindquarters and breaking his back. I 
stroked his head and walked away. A .22 bullet ended 
his misery. The Eskimo did what I could not do. 



1916] BACK ACROSS ELLESMERE LAND 249 

Feeding our dogs and loading the remaining meat 
onto our sledges, we plugged along toward camp. When 
our dogs were hitched for the night they had full bellies. 
The singing Primus stove was lit, the door was closed, 
pipes were pulled out, and contentment reigned. Scarce- 
ly were we tucked away in our sleeping-bags when a 
sharp yelp from one of the dogs held us at attention. A 
few hurried whispers of "Nanook-suahr' ("Big bear!") 
were followed by E-took-a-shoo jumping out of his bag 
and clapping his eye to the peephole over the door. 
^' I-shoo-woo!" ("Sure enough!") he said, under his 
breath. In the twinkling of an eye I was alone. My 
Eskimos had gone, leaving their clothes behind, merely 
slipping on their kamiks (boots). 

I followed as quickly as I could and beheld a striking 
picture — three naked, brown, muscular bodies standing 
on a mound of ice with rifles to their shoulders, all taking 
careful aim. I hastened toward them. 

The short bark of the Remington automatic and the 
snappy report of the Winchester .401 were followed by 
the crash of E-took-a-shoo's "I-mean-business" .35. 
Nanook became a huge white ball of hair, claws, and 
snapping teeth in his endeavors to bite holes in his hind 
quarters, now crimson with blood. Down, up, and 
down again. Then with a hop, skip, and a jump he 
headed for the Sound. E-took-a-shoo ran for his clothes, 
and Arklio for his dogs, while Noo-ka-ping-wa squatted 
on his hams and yelled with delight as he saw that 
silvery white turn to red. 

E-took-a-shoo, now dressed, ran south toward North 
America, and with a good prospect of making it, I 
thought, if the bear continued on his course. 

Noo-ka-ping-wa, our youngest and most active man, 



250 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Apeil 

was always in at the death. In a twinkling he was 
dressed, my dogs were hitched to his sledge, and he 
was off. At three o'clock they were back with the 
sledge red with meat. 

Again we slipped down into our bags and again we 
scrambled out — another bear! They were finding us 
right at home. Bachelor apartments, evidently, for 
these were all males; the ladies must be over in Eureka 
Sound. The Fates were delivering our orders of the 
last two weeks right at our door and in truck-loads. 
The bottom had fallen out of the high price of meat. 
Rather than proceed with heavily loaded sledges, I 
decided to remain here another day, rest the dogs, and 
feed to the limit. 

Here I built a cairn and inclosed the following record : 

Easter Sunday, April 23, 1916. — Arrived here yesterday on my 
return from Finlay Land (King Christian Island) to Etah, North 
Greenland. I shall leave here to-morrow for Cape Ludvig. From 
there I shall proceed to North Cornwall, where I hope to find musk- 
oxen enough to enable me to map east coast as far as Gordon Head. 
Expect to arrive Cape Southwest about May 4th, and Etah, 
June 1st. 

Thus far we have killed thirteen bears, thirteen seals, sixteen 
hare, two ptarmigan, and thirty musk-oxen. Have three days' 
supply of pemmican on our sledges. 

I have with me three Eskimos — Noo-ka-ping-wa, Arklio, and 
E-took-a-shoo. 

Have lost eight dogs out of forty-seven, three with piblock-to, 
three dropping on the trail, and two killed by bears. 

All well, 

MacMillan. 

My diary reads: 

April 2Ii.ih, Monday, Thirty-fourth day. — ^This is one of the days 
when a man thinks strongly of the comforts of home. We left 
Three-Bear Camp at eleven-fifty this morning, hoping that wind 
and drift would subside in a few hours; but in this we were disap- 



1916] 



BACK ACROSS ELLESMERE LAND 



251 



pointed. On the contrary, it steadily increased, giving us the first 
real taste of bad weather and discomfort we have had on the trip. 

The condition of our dogs also added to our troubles. Rounded 
out with meat as they were, anything faster than a slow walk was 
positively painful. Consequently, we were compelled to walk the 
twenty-five miles, with the result that when we arrived at our old 
igloo on the east side of Hassel Sound we were wet with sweat and 
our clothes were driven full of snow. We are now trying to dry out, 
with both stoves going. 

Arkho lost another dog to-day, a young dog loaned to him by 
Noo-ka-ping-wa. It was so badly injured by being run over with 
the sledges that he left it on the trail. 

Thus far we have lost ten in all — Arklio, four; Noo-ka-ping-wa, 
three; E-took-a-shoo, one; I, one; and Ak-pood-a-shah-o, one. 

Our dogs should go better to-morrow when they have digested 
some of their awful load. My king-dog is as round as a barrel and 
as lazy as a negro with the hookworm. To-day he is in disgrace. 
Was compelled to shorten his trace and warm him up a bit — the first 
time in three years of driving. He is eight years old, which is very 
old for a sledge-dog, but still holds up his end of the work. 

April 25, 1916, Tuesday, Thirty-fifth day. Cub Camp. — 



Temp. —20.2° 


F. 




\.t lOh. 47m. P.M. Sun bears 


319°30' 


( C < C < C ( ( ( ( 




320 


<< tt (c (c a 




325°30' 


it << ( C i i i i 




318°30' 


C < ii H < < ( c 




320 


C< <C it t t (C 




319°30' 



The above bearings show that the compass needle between the 
Magnetic and North Poles is somewhat erratic. I had the same 
trouble when I was here before. 

We arrived here after a long march of nine hours, to find our 
igloo smashed in and our things left here considerably scattered. 

Papa bear has been home. Not finding the cubs, as I had them 
well hidden, and not getting any response from his spouse, he grabbed 
her by the hair of the head, dragged her out of the igloo, ate off both 
her hind legs and her belly, and left her a complete wreck behind 
an ice hummock, the cannibal! Mamma is not worth taking home, 
unless I decide to use her for dog harness. 

If we can judge of papa's size by his feet, he is a monster! Let 
us hope that he will come home again to-night. He has probably 
17 



252 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [April 

gone to Eureka Sound for a new wife. Fortunately, he did not 
peep into my bag, which contains a httle of everything. He helped 
himself to all of our biscuit, however. 

On the 26th we left the south shore of Amund Ringnes 
Island and headed across for Hendriksen Sound for 
North Cornwall, reaching there at four-fifteen, I being 
the first white man to step upon the island for sixty 
years. Its northern, eastern, and much of its southern 
shores have never been visited by man. On August 
30, 1852, Sir Edward Belcher, in his search for Sir 
John Franklin, landed from a boat on the southern 
shore, touching for a few hours only at two points. 

There we found traces of wolves, musk-oxen, and 
hare, encouraging me to believe that the game-supply 
might enable me to round the whole island. 

Upon the northern coast of this island there is a 
magnificent headland rising to a height of 1,200 feet. 
I named this McLeod Head after my good friend, 
Capt. Angus McLeod. Upon its summit my Eskimos 
constructed a cairn five feet high and four in circum- 
ference, for my record inclosed in a small bottle. 

The view was magnificent. Three islands were dis- 
covered lying off the shore to the west and northwest; 
one of these we had passed coming over. In the south- 
west a large fiord could be plainly seen, in the center of 
which was a high island. Looking south over the land 
through the hills, the sea ice blended into the haze of 
the distance. 

To explore this new land again I must have meat — 
troublesome food! What an amount of work a man 
could do if he didn't have to eat! One miserable hare 
was the result of three hours' hunting. 

The morning of the 27th was memorable, made so 



1^ 




NEST OF EIDER DUCK 




FOUR THOUSAND DELICIOUS FRESH EGGS OF THE EIDER DUCK 



1916] BACK ACROSS ELLESMERE LAND 253 

by a seemingly unimportant incident — a snow-bunting 
flying over our sledges. No one can ever appreciate our 
emotions as we watched that wavering flight and heard 
that glad song — a welcome message from southern 
lands, an announcement that the world still lives, that 
we are not forgotten, that the whiteness of the big hills 
will soon darken into beds of beautiful flowers, that the 
valley snows will quickly change to running waters, that 
the air will again resound with the whirring of wings 
and the laughter of happy Eskimo children, that our 
cracked, frost-bitten faces will feel once more the safe 
touch of warm southern winds. Your bluebird of spring 
is but dry prose in comparison with kop-a-noo (snow- 
bird), a beautiful poem. 

Twenty miles due east in my running survey, and 
still no game. A bear track only, and this could not 
be eaten. The party must be divided. Arklio and 
E-took-a-shoo would cross to Cape Southwest of Axel 
Heiberg Land, and, if successful in their hunting, put 
meat in cache for the return of Noo-ka-ping-wa and my- 
self from the southern shore of the island a few days 
later. That night our two sleeping-bags seemed very 
small on the large, wide, white bed. I missed the boys 
and was sorry to have them go. 

It was not until two-thirty of the 29th that we were 
ready for bed. "If it takes E-took-a-shoo, Arklio, and 
Noo-ka-ping-wa one hour to build a snow house, and 
E-took-a-shoo works one and one-half faster than Ark- 
lio, and Arklio one-third as fast as Noo-ka-ping-wa, how 
long will it take Noo-ka-ping-wa?" I queried to myself, 
as I sawed out the snow blocks and tried to recall the 
algebra of my school-days. And I answered to myself: 
*'I don't give a rap. No school to-morrow." 



254 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Apkil 

Just before closing our door, Noo-ka-ping-wa placed 
his rifle against the entrance, ready for a visitor. At 
four-thirty he or she arrived, the approach being her- 
alded by a commotion among our dogs. Noo-ka-ping- 
wa slipped out of his sleeping-bag and ducked through 
the door, having on only a pair of drawers and socks. 
As he did so, the whole arch dropped on his bare back. 
At twenty below zero, this accelerated rather than re- 
tarded his scramble for his rifle. It afforded me, how- 
ever, some amusement, and dropped the curtain for a 
good view of the scene of action. He squatted in the 
snow and pulled his automatic three times, leading me 
to believe that the bear was on the move. But this 
fear was immediately dispelled by his turning to me 
and yelling, "He's dead!" After he had come into the 
igloo I inquired why he had shot so many times, to 
which he replied: "We were both undressed. It was 
blowing and drifting, and I was afraid he would get 
away. So I thought I had better smash him all up.'* 

On the 29th we arrived at a point on the southern 
shore of the island a short distance from Table and 
Exmouth Islands, passing along the shore between a 
newly discovered island and the mainland. The new 
island is but a half-mile distant, about two miles long 
and one-half mile wide. 

Here on the southern shore, upon the summit of a 
hill one mile distant, I built a cairn and deposited a 
record. 

Sunday, April 30th, was the fairest of days, enabling 
me to get ten good sights — for longitude, latitude, and 
azimuth. For the first time the thermometer registered 
above zero, being -1-8° F. 

My dogs were in excellent condition, covering the 



1916] BACK ACROSS ELLESMERE LAND 255 

sixteen miles of the back trail in a little over three hours, 
trotting the whole distance. 

On May 1st we killed another magnificent specimen 
of a polar bear. As I ran along by his side for a hundred 
yards or more, snapping my camera, I noticed a hitherto 
unrecorded fact — he was skiiing with his front feet on 
every slight descent, fairly gliding through space! 

The remarks of my Eskimo boy are of interest: "He 
has a very large spleen. He has been to sleep. If the 
spleen is small, he is through sleeping. We always give 
some of this to the young dogs to make them good bear- 
dogs. The bears here are different from bears near 
home. There the dogs easily stop them. Here they 
seem to keep going. I think it is because of the wolves 
here." 

Upon our arrival at Cape Southwest on the 2d we 
found evidence of a raid upon our old camp by the 
white wolves. The snow was covered with hair, the 
remains of musk-ox skins we had left here upon our 
advance. Sticking in the snow block over the igloo 
entrance were seventeen stubs of matches, which, trans- 
lated into the Eskimo language, informed us that Arklio 
and E-took-a-shoo had killed as many hare. Failing 
to find larger game, they had gone on east as I had 
directed. 

During the evening it began to snow, with the wind 
southeast, raising the temperature from five below zero 
to twenty-four above. 

Here is the list of what two of us ate at that igloo, 
evidence that we were in good health: One pound of 
crackers, one-half pound of pemmican, the hearts and 
livers of four hare, four pounds of meat, one quart and 
a half of malted milk, and one cake of army chocolate. 



256 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [May 

At Cape Southwest we built another cairn and left 
a record of our visit in a chocolate-tin. 

Remarks by Noo-ka-ping-wa : "The gyrfalcon is the 
swiftest bird in the North. It will overtake and capt- 
ure even the ptarmigan, which is very fast. It also 
catches little auks, ducks, and even glaucous gulls. 
The owl must be very strong to catch and hold a large 
hare." 

On the 5th we traveled east with a strong wind and 
drift, which continued right up to our igloo door. As 
we approached I said to myself, "Yes, there is the igloo 
with a pemmican-tin on top of it." To my astonish- 
ment, a few seconds later the tin became animated and 
dissolved into the laughing mouth and long black hair 
of Arklio. He had his head right up through the 
ventilating hole in the top of the snow house, watching 
us drive into town. All happy to be together again. 

It needed something more than a strong wind, drift, 
and breaking crust to discourage us on our next day's 
march. We were homeward bound. A rapid run over 
the smooth ice of Ulve Fiord brought us to our old igloo 
at Bjornesundet, where another cairn and record were 
left. 

We were now gradually turning night into day — that 
is, we were traveling while the sun was low in the north 
and sleeping while it was high in the south. It was ab- 
solutely necessary to wear our amber-colored glasses 
constantly. Snow-blindness and extreme suffering al- 
ways follow a few hours' exposure to the reflected rays 
of the sun during the month of May. In April the 
sun is so low that the angle of incidence is small, and 
consequently the reflected rays are not in the least 
painful. Finally, in June the snow-fields have lost 



1916] BACK ACROSS ELLESMERE LAND 257 

much of their brightness by thawing into dark pools of 
water which are restful to the eyes. 

On the 6th we faced a cold wind for eleven hours and 
a half, with fifty miles to our credit. As I watched 
those little legs reeling off mile after mile, my thoughts 
went back to that bright moonlight night in January, 
1915 — not a breath of wind and the ice as hard and 
smooth as a floor — when they trotted their full hundred ! 
Only one dropped; the others finished with tails tightly 
curled, rubbed their heads against my legs, placed their 
paws against my breast, and wanted to be told that 
they had done their work and done it well. Magnificent 
animals! Faithful to the end of the long trail! How I 
miss them! 

Another sign of spring at this camp, although only 
eight above zero — a live caterpillar! We take our tent 
out of a cache and pitch it for the first time on the trip. 
The joy of living in a tent after a season of snow houses ! 

Driving up Bay Fiord the next day, we found the hills 
fairly crawling with Arctic hare. With every hour the 
temptation to pot a few for supper grew stronger, until 
it could be resisted no longer. My, but hare meat is 
good! At the head of the fiord a large pile of meat as- 
sured us that our dogs would be in excellent condition 
for their climb over the glacier of Ellesmere Land. A 
day of rest here, on which the Eskimos played their 
first game of whist. The ladies of Etah this winter are 
possibly playing bridge. 

Our first mile in two hours on the 10th was not at 
the rate of modern travel. The day is not far distant 
when the Demon of the North, so jealous of its secrets, 
will be robbed of one of his best weapons of defense — 
deep snows. The aeronaut may well laugh when he 



258 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [May 

sees those valleys and big white hills rolling back be- 
neath him. 

Thick fog compelled us to camp on the back of the 
glacier. The trail was lost; not a landmark could be 
seen Lost again on the 11th. We dared not go on for 
fear of going over the edge of the glacier. No one could 
sleep; all were as restless as myself. At the first ray 
of sun through the clouds, sledges were packed and we 
were off down the glacier and valley to the sea ice, where 
we found, in our old igloo, four bear and two musk-ox 
skins left by two of my men. Our sledges were now 
well loaded — fourteen bear and thirteen musk-ox skins. 

At the water-hole, four seals furnished us with a 
change of diet. Seal meat is the Eskimo's turkey, his 
staple food; a seal's flipper is his entree, and a seal's 
liver his ice-cream. We learned to like it; in fact we 
were never tired of it. I think our good health during 
the four years may be attributed to our abundance of 
fresh seal meat. And every spring, on the ice-floes off 
Newfoundland, at least two million pounds are left to 
rot! 

On the 14th we pitched our tent on the ice in front 
of Greely's Starvation Camp of 1884. We could see a 
number of seals at their holes, and we secured one 
easily. How many times I have wished that one Etah 
Eskimo could have crossed Smith Sound to that camp 
of dying men! He might have saved the lives of the 
whole party. 

Heading east, we heard the sound of waves beating 
against the edge of the ice. Stretching north as far as 
the eye could see was open water. Smith Sound had 
broken up! We knew, however, that somewhere to the 
north of us was the solid pack — a bridge to Greenland. 



1916] BACK ACROSS ELLESMERE LAND 25D 

Back again toward Victoria Head we plodded, almost 
doubling on our tracks. 

Looking ahead, I saw the boys running toward a 
black object on the ice, make a hasty examination, then 
mount a pressure ridge, sprint back to their sledges, 
and drive off like mad. In a few minutes there appeared 
in front of them a small white animal, which I thought 
must be a wolf. It proved to be a polar-bear cub weigh- 
ing about forty pounds, which was captured and lashed 
to the sledge. 

In about an hour Arklio jumped to his feet, standing 
upon his sledge, and declaring that he could see a dog 
off in the distance. Two teams were sighted, and I 
knew that Ak-kom-mo-ding-wa and Ak-pood-a-shah-o 
had not forgotten that I had requested them to leave 
home and come to me when the little auks arrived from 
the south. Living newspapers when met on the trail! 
We eagerly gathered around them to absorb every 
word: 

"In-you-ta has been drowned. Capsized in his ka- 
yak, harpooning a narwhal. Line caught. He cut it 
and got out of the hole. He was found floating feet 
up. No, I don't know who is to have his wife. 

"Toi-tee-a shot a boy at Kah-na. An accidental dis- 
charge of his rifle. The bullet entered the hip and 
passed up through the stomach and intestines. 

"Panikpa and Koo-la-ting-wa shot one bear on their 
return. Ak-pood-a-shah-o and Ak-kom-mo-ding-wa got 
two." This makes us a total of twenty for our spring 
trip. 

"Ka-ko-tchee-a and Kae-we-ark-sha have both shot 
caribou at Etah. 

"Au-duck-a-shing-ya is married, thank goodness! 



260 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [May 

She punched the first man who came after her, but ac- 
cepted the second." 

Just before midnight of the 16th we drove into 
Etah. The long 1,200-mile trip was over. The dogs 
wagged their tails and uttered that bass growl of pleas- 
ure as I freed them of their well-worn harness. For 
them school was out; the long summer vacation had 
begun. For me a bath. Seventy soapless, washless 
days. Warm water and soap, comforts of civihzation. 



XIII 

ALONE AT BORUP LODGE 

OHORTLY after my departure for King Christian 
^^ Island, Ekblaw had left for North Star Bay, plan- 
ning to study all tide-water glaciers en route. I now 
found a letter awaiting me stating that he was at the 
sub-station, with the work accomplished. Doctor Hovey 
and Doctor Hunt would return to New York on the 
George B. Cluett upon her breaking out of the ice in July. 
Ekblaw would await the arrival of the new expected 
relief-ship which Doctor Hovey had requested the 
American Museum to send, in view of the refusal of 
Captain Pickles of the Cluett to proceed farther. 

When I got back to Etah I led my bear into the 
house, through our big living-room, out into our work- 
shop, and tethered him to the leg of the bench. I had 
not been out three minutes when Jot rushed excitedly 
from the front door, yelling: "For God's sake come in! 
He's tearing hell out of the house!" 

Bursting into the back room, I found it a mess. The 
stove was turned around, the pipe was down. The floor 
was littered with cans, boxes, sledge runners, and cloth- 
ing. Everything had been swept off the bench, and on 
top of it was Bowdoin, as I called him, tearing madly 
at the back window in a desperate effort to reach the 



£02 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mat 

light. Whining with rage at being restrained by the 
rope around his neck, he rushed at me like a whirlwind, 
grabbing my leg and arm; but, clothed in skins as I was, 
he was not considered dangerous. When he discovered 
that his attacks were always met with a laugh and 
were not resisted, he would drop his head, protrude his 
upper hp, blow, and cry for all the world hke a baby 
with the croup. 

In a few days he followed me about like a dog, but 
he was almost too affectionate in his demonstrations, 
tripping me up repeatedly by rubbing his head against 
my legs. Each day he had his swim at the edge of the 
ice, and how he enjoyed it! Floating high and with long, 
easy stride, he fairly walked through the water, being 
much more at home in than out. He is rightly termed 
amphibious. The polar bear, called by sailors the water 
bear, has been reported swimming even 100 miles from 
land. He is also credited with the power of swimming 
Y/ith only the tip of his black muzzle visible above the 
surface. In this position it is possible for him success- 
fully to stalk his staple food, the seal, sleeping or sun- 
ning on a pan of ice. 

My little cub was ever a source of amusement; clean 
grit from his nose to the rudiments of his tail, he feared 
neither dog nor man, walking as deliberately and as un- 
concernedly through our settlement as he would alone 
on a distant ice-field. But let an unsuspecting, would- 
be-social pup get within reach of that short stubby fore 
paw tipped with steel hooks, then there was a blur in 
the air followed by a yelp of pain. 

For hours he amused himself by climbing the snow 
slope to the end of his tether, turning around, and slid- 
ing down on his stomach with outstretched legs. He 



1916] ALONE AT BORUP LODGE 263 

grew and strengthened so rapidly that I harnessed him 
to my sledge. We went to ride very often, always going 
where he wanted, never where I did. 

One morning he was gone. Once before I had found 
him free, sitting on top of his cage, looking wistfully 
out over the harbor ice to the blue stretch of open 
water beyond. Here shelter, comfort, and food, a life 
of indolence and ease; but out there that for which he 
was born — troubled waters, drifting pans, flying spray, 
a matching of his wits and his strength against the ele- 
ments. I was glad the pen was empty. 

Now began the third season of busy days, when one 
hated to go to bed, but wanted to work the clock around. 
The little auks {Alle alle) had arrived on time. May 
15th, and were now swarming in millions on the talus 
slopes; and circling with them, hovering over them, 
and feeding on them the big glaucous gull, at this season 
a bird of prey. 

The raven, with us always, worries his skeleton-like 
body through the dark, cold days of winter upon a real 
starvation diet, now and then dropping to the trail be- 
hind us for the refuse of the dogs. But upon the arrival 
of the dovekies and the ducks they also become pred- 
atory, pursuing and seizing the former in their beaks 
and eating the eggs of the latter. A raven often may 
be seen high in air, directing his course toward his 
nestlings on the cliff, with his lower bill driven through 
the shell of an egg. 

The white and blue foxes are now at the height of 
their prosperity and happiness. Birds and eggs every- 
where; delicious morsels following the patient nibbling 
of the frozen meat stolen from the caches of the Eskimos. 
The fox's mouth is apparently small, but when those 



264 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [June 

jaws are fully opened they are easily capable of taking 
in a full-sized duck's egg. One by one the nests are 
robbed, until the hole beneath the rocks is full to over- 
flowing. The harvest is ended and winter is provided 
for. 

On June 5th I noticed the first flower of spring, the 
purple saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia) . In two weeks 
mingling and contrasting with them would be that 
nomad of the North, the Arctic poppy {Papaver radi- 
catum) . It is found everywhere, even to the edge of the 
Polar Sea, and blossoming at that most northern point 
of all known lands, Cape Morris Jesup, 370 miles from 
the Pole. The arnica, the buttercup, the dandelion, 
and the daisy also came to us. There were fourteen 
different species within a few feet of our door. 

By the middle of June water was running over the 
cliff and down through every valley. The temperature 
stood at thirty-nine above. The snowbirds (Plectro- 
phenax nivalis) were building their nests. Summer had 
come. Eggs of the eider duck, the brant, and the 
glaucous gull were all found on the 16th. On the 25th, 
four thousand eggs were cached for our winter's use. 

Weeks of most careful search over nearly every square 
foot of the big hills north of Etah failed to discover the 
very rare and consequently the very valuable eggs of 
the knot {Tringa canutus). Long hours, wet feet, and 
aching limbs were well repaid, however, by the dis- 
covery of the eggs of the European ring-necked plover 
(jEgialitis hiaticuld), Baird's sandpiper {Pisohia bairdi), 
and the red phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius) . 

I was highly elated to learn later, upon communica- 
tion with Ekblaw at the sub-station, that Doctor Hunt 
had found two sets of the knot eggs at Umanak. 




Photo by bKbia.w 



THE RARE EGGS OF THE KNOT (tRINGA CANUTUs) 




tUoio by ElibLaw 
THE KNOT UPON NEST 
The colors of this bird are such that when sitting upon the nest it is almost impossible of detection. 



1916] ALONE AT BORUP LODGE 265 

Contrary to the general belief, this bird lays its eggs not 
near the shore, but well back among the hills. The color 
of the back so closely resembles that of the soil that 
the bird on its nest can only be detected with difl&culty. 

On July 5th, with a subconscious but a bit-delayed 
patriotic attitude toward the Glorious Fourth, which 
we had ushered in the day before with a rapid salute of 
our ten guns, We-we's three-year-old boy walked bravely 
by our front door with a large stick of dynamite in 
his mouth! This particular stick carefully secured and 
disposed of, the thought occurred to me that possibly 
the naturally curious-minded Eskimos might cook the 
dynamite in mistake for erbswurst, which it strongly 
resembled; therefore I removed the box with the loose 
cover to a safe distance around the bend of the cove, 
some 300 yards west of the house. Two days later a 
pup appeared at our front door with a stick in his 
mouth, wagging his tail and trying to tell me that he 
had found that which was lost. It was rather interest- 
ing trying to catch this playful animal, since he persisted 
in dropping his plaything every twenty yards or so in 
order to get a better grip on it with his teeth. 

On July 21st, with my three favorite Eskimos — 
E-took-a-shoo, Arklio, and Ak-pood-a-shah-o — I left 
Etah in my twenty-one-foot dory for a bight below Sul- 
wuddy we called Snug Harbor. The Arctic tern was 
supposed to breed here, and we wanted the eggs for 
our collection. A heavy squall off Cape Alexander com- 
pelled us to return for a camp at the Crystal Palace 
Cliffs. The next day we reached Sutherland Island 
without incident and found it to be the nesting-place 
of hundreds of eider ducks, gulls, and brant. A large 
flock of the latter was resting upon the surface of Snug 



266 FOUR YEAHS in the WHITE NORTH [July 

Harbor, which we reached a few hours later. Five shots 
were fired before it dawned upon us that these geese 
could not fly — they were molting their feathers. As 
tickled as school-boys, we drove the hissing birds before 
us over the hills, picking out the plumpest for our eve- 
ning meal. 

My field journal for the next day reaas: 

July llflh, Friday. — The devil took a holiday yesterday to plan 
for our destruction to-day. When sailing up from Snug Harbor 
with a good southerly breeze — well, I should have known that 
nothing good comes out of the South. We were led on, innocents 
as we were, to the end of the cape, and there we ran into trouble. 
Arklio was steering with boom on port side, wind almost east, run- 
ning along near the shore. As we approached the point the wind 
hauled more southerly. We couldn't tack; we couldn't jibe; we 
couldn't lower the sail; for if we did, the boom would drop into 
the water and perhaps capsize the boat. 

Fortunately, there were no shrouds on the dory, which enabled 
me to let out sheet enough to swing the boom well for'ard over 
the bow. In this way we managed to work around the cape and 
into a niche in the cliff, where we took in a double reef for the run 
to Etah, ten miles away. We hadn't left the place ten minutes 
when I realized that we were in for it. It blew so hard that the 
water was hfted in sheets and in whorls Uke dust in the street. 

Heavily loaded, with only about a foot freeboard and with two 
kayaks in tow, naturally we shipped several seas. If we continued 
to do so, I had decided to throw overboard all our personal equip- 
ment and provisions, such as oil and biscuit. 

Within fifteen minutes the lacing on the gaff broke and the peak 
of the sail slatted loose. In vain I tried to hoist the boom higher to 
prevent it catching in a sea and capsizing us. I reahzed that in 
lowering it and stopping headway there was danger of a sea rolling 
over the stern and filling the boat, but it had to be done. Telling 
the boys to keep headway with the oars, I quickly lowered it, re- 
paired the lacing, and hoisted it again. 

The water was now well up over the floor, and we were wet through 
and through with ice-water. There was such a heavy sea that 
twice we ran the how of the dory under when riding before a sea. 
The two kayaks, lashed together, were jumping, twisting, pulling, 
and jerking. Time and time again riding on a sea, they ran their 



1916] ALONE AT BORUP LODGE m 

noses into the stern of the boat. If they filled or capsized, it would 
have been necessary to cut them adrift. 

When about half-way between the Crystal Palace Cliffs and 
Cape Kendrick, E-took-a-shoo's kayak filled. One hundred yards 
further ArkUo's turned bottom up. Fortunately, here the sea was 
not heavy, which enabled me to work slowly deep into Pandora 
Harbor, where we are now trying to dry out. Our only loss is a 
pair of bearskin pants out of a kayak. 

Since there was a large amount of water in our boat, our brant 
geese, which we had captured alive and were taking to Etah, were 
right in their element, but om* nestlings, geese, ducks, and gulls, 
were actually drowned. 

It was with a very secure feeling that we lay in our tent that 
night, listening to the roar of the wind over the top of the high hills 
bordering our retreat. A cessation of the wind enabled us to reach 
home in the morning without further incident. 

From now on it was rush, rush, rush. Everything 
must be packed for transportation to New York. The 
relief-ship was expected at any minute, and then there 
was always the uncertainty of her arrival, prompting 
us to work night and day for eggs, birds, walrus, and 
seal for the following winter. Our natives killed and 
cached seventy-five walrus during July and August. 
One walrus had three tusks, exciting considerable curios- 
ity and interest, as they had never seen one like it 
before. 

On August 9th a large polar bear appeared, swim- 
ming across the harbor, an especially gratifying sight, 
since a few weeks previous, upon developing negatives 
of my spring trip, I discovered that many of them were 
light-struck, due to a small pinhole in the bellows of 
my 3 A. Mr. Bear came to Etah expressly to be photo- 
graphed, and behaved exceedingly well. His perfect 
adaptation to his environment was well marked. He 
was a beautiful swimmer, both on the surface and be- 
low, and a most graceful diver, rolling his back out of 

18 



^68 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 

water exactly like a white whale, which, in fact, some 
of the natives at first thought it was. We could 
clearly see that he propelled himself with all four legs, 
a fact contrary to what has been recorded by other ob- 
servers. 

By surrounding him with kayaks, it was possible for 
lis to drive him in any desired direction, even into the 
front door of our house, had we wished it. A mental 
picture of Jot going out the back door was a strong 
temptation for us to act upon the thought. A small 
berg, however, offered a better setting for such a noble 
animal. There, drawn up in a dignified manner, with 
his white body outlined against the black hills, he 
looked every inch of what he is, the king of the North. 

A cry of "Boat coming!" on August 17th aroused me 
from a sound sleep. The expected big ship with a trail 
of black smoke dwindled to a white power-boat with an 
intermittent cough. Doctor Hovey had arrived again. 
W^ith him were Captain Comer, Freuchen, and two 
Eskimos. For various reasons. Doctor Hovey, Captain 
Comer, Doctor Hunt, and Mr. Ekblaw had refused to 
embark on the Cluett when she sailed for home on the 
29th of July. They were positive that another ship 
would be sent by the American Museum and preferred 
to await its arrival. Now, considerably worried over 
its non-appearance, they had come to Etah to inform 
me that it was their intention, if the ship had not ar- 
rived by August 20th, to proceed south across Melville 
Bay to TJpernavik in the boat. Again there was only 
one decision for me to make — remain with the collec- 
tions and the equipment until a ship arrived at Etah, 
or until I received definite orders from the American 
Museum to abandon everything. If I did not receive 



1916] ALONE AT BORUP LODGE 269 

instructions by tlie summer of 1917, I would sledge 
home by way of Ellesmere and Baffin Land and Hudson 
Bay. 

Jot would have remained in a minute had I requested 
it. I advised him by all means to take advantage of 
this opportunity of reaching home. Once more I bade 
them good-by, and watched the white dot disappear 
beyond the outer islands. I was now alone with my 
Eskimos for an indefinite period. It was with a very 
strange feeling that I sat down in my room to listen 
to the stillness which pervaded the big house, but 
only for a moment. The happy laughter of an Eskimo 
child immediately dispelled all thoughts of lost oppor- 
tunities. I could not be homesick surrounded by such 
people. And then again, the ship would come. It 
was early yet, only August 18th. 

Preparations for home went on. Box after box was 
nailed and marked. One hundred and sixty were now 
ready. On August 23d the sun, which had been with 
us for 124 days, swung below the northern horizon, the 
first warning that winter was at hand. For the next 
sixty-two days the sun would rise and set as at home, 
and then would come the long sunless period of 118 
days. On the night of the 25th the lamp was lighted, 
a real event in our simple life at Etah. How cheerful 
it looked in our smoke-begrimed room. Yes, the Arctic 
night is welcome! 

By September 1st I had given up all hope of relief 
and began to rush my preparations for the winter. The 
back room was filled with wood, double windows were 
put on, the shed roof was entirely renewed. All holes 
in the house were patched, boat-loads of grass were ob- 
tained, boxes were unpacked, skins packed away, and 



270 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Sept. 

eight tons of coal brought from the point in the little 
punt. All was now secure. 

The Arctic is ever ready with a surprise It seems 
to delight in turning white into bleak, to smash plans 
utterly, to drown hope with a flood of disappointment, 
and then again to whisk away darkness with a flood of 
sunshine. 

On September 7th there was a faint putter — ^putter — 
putter heard far to the south. Could it be possible.'^ 
Yes, it was Rasmussen's boat returning to Etah; the 
clumsy Danish model could not fail of recognition. 
Various reasons for her return were racing through my 
mind. With the aid of binoculars I could recognize 
Doctor Hovey, Captain Comer, Ekblaw, and Jot stand- 
ing on the deck. 

Their story can be told in a very few words The ex- 
pected relief-ship had not arrived. The ice conditions 
below Umanak were so unfavorable that it was deemed 
imprudent to attempt the crossing of Melville Bay. 
Hovey, Comer, and Jot had returned to spend the winter 
with me at Borup Lodge. Ekblaw and Doctor Hunt 
would continue at our sub-station at Umanak until an 
opportunity presented itself of proceeding southward by 
mail-teams in December. 

Rasmussen, in company with his assistant, Mr Koch, 
a botanist, and Ekblaw, left Etah on the 9th to return 
to Umanak. 

Once more the lodge seemed to awaken from its 
lethargy and take on an air of cheerfulness. We settled 
down for our fourth and last year, in many ways the 
happiest of them all. New faces, new stories, untried 
sources of information. Doctor Hovey never revealed 
his regret at having ventured into the North, nor his 




AN ICE-COLD BATH HAS NO TERRORS WHATEVER FOR NANNOOK 




HE VERY KINDLY ASCENDED THE BERG TO BE PHOTOGRAPHED 



1916] ALONE AT BORUP LODGE 271 

keen disappointment at the non-arrival of the second 
rehef-ship. He was content to bide his time and look 
and hope for the best. 

And equally philosophical was Capt. George Comer, 
a man of wide experience in both northern and southern 
waters. He was there, and why not make the best of 
it.f^ His songs of the sea, which we heard daily, and his 
experiences in the Strait of Magellan, at Desolation 
Island and at Hudson Bay, often but not too often 
narrated, were a never-failing source of entertainment. 
Physically strong, energetic, and willing, he proved of 
great help to me in many ways during the year. He 
insisted upon being held responsible for certain duties 
at Etah, such as keeping our big tank well supplied with 
ice for drinking and wash water; taking all meteorologi- 
cal observations during the day, tidal observations dur- 
ing the spring, and other similar duties. All the work 
I assigned to him was dismissed completely from my 
mind. I knew it would be done faithfully and well. 

During the darkening and shortening of the fall 
days we were busily occupied in securing meat for the 
winter — walrus, seal, ptarmigan, ducks, guillemots, and 
Arctic hare. We placed thermometers upon Thermom- 
eter Hill at an altitude of 1,100 feet, and visited them 
religiously every Sunday until darkness would no longer 
permit a reading. A line of soundings was carried 
throughout the length of Alida Lake, the greatest depth 
proving to be eighty-two and a half feet. To insure a 
good water-supply, four icebergs were moored to the 
beach in front of our door, to remain there until frozen 
in for the winter. 

Clad in long-legged rubber boots and with long- 
handled dipper and net. Doctor Hovey could be seen 



272 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Oct. 

every day upon the shore, constantly adding to our 
zoological collection. The sea was teeming with life; 
especially evident during the evening, when the waters, 
if agitated, emitted a blaze of phosphorescent light. 
To our surprise, we found clams all along the shore, 
and we even discovered a species of cuttlefish at the 
head of the harbor. 

With the formation of the harbor ice, which pre- 
vented zoological work. Doctor Hovey bravely attacked 
the installation of the seismograph, generously loaned to 
the expedition by Georgetown University. Although it 
was much different from that found at the American 
Museum, it was successfully assembled and operated 
throughout the year. 

By October 10th our thermometers were registering 
zero weather. Sea ice had formed, offering us a hard, 
level sledging surface up and down the fiord, enabling 
the Eskimo women to set and attend their fox-traps. 

On October 22d our Eskimos returned from the an- 
nual caribou-hunt throughout the region extending from 
Etah to the Humboldt Glacier. Forty-five skins were 
secured. Two facts of interest were reported — no young 
caribou whatever and tracks of wolves everywhere. 
This would indicate that a large band of white wolves 
had crossed Smith Sound from Ellesmere Land and 
were following the herds of caribou in Greenland, the 
young being the first to fall victims to the ravenous packs. 
A number of caribou were discovered sleeping on the 
ice in the center of lakes, probably for security against 
the attacks of wolves. 

On November 23d two of our Eskimos left for Umanak 
with our mail, which was to go south with Hunt and 
Ekblaw on the December moon. 



1916] ALONE AT BORUP LODGE 273 

Many of our friends at home feared that we were 
starving, but this was the menu served upon our fourth 
Thanksgiving Day in the Arctic: 

Vegetable soup 

Roast haunch of caribou — Stuffing with brown gravy 

Mashed potatoes String-beans 

Chocolate frosted cake Fruit cake 

Squash pie Mince pie 

Doughnuts 

Coffee Punch 

After our own dinner, seventeen Eskimos were fed 
until they yelled, "Enough!" The stomach of little 
nine-year-old Megishoo stuck out hard and round as 
that of a young FilipinOo 

With the cry of, "Sledges coming!" on December 7th, 
came the surprise of the year. "A big ship frozen in the 
ice at Umanak!" We ripped off eagerly the envelopes 
of the letters from Ekblaw and Hunt to learn the par- 
ticulars. The ship proved to be the Danmarh, from 
Copenhagen, in charter by the American Museum to 
proceed to Etah from South Greenland to convey the 
members and collections of the expedition to Sydney, 
Cape Breton. 

Because of the unfavorable ice conditions, due to the 
lateness of the season (September 23d), the ship had 
been unable to proceed beyond Umanak, and had gone 
into winter quarters. Through carelessness or misunder- 
standing, our notification of her arrival had been de- 
layed by at least a month. 

The relief naturally expected that upon receipt of 
the news of its arrival we would gladly abandon our 



274 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Dec. 

house for the more comfortable quarters of the ship, 
which was well provisioned for thirty men until Novem- 
ber 1, 1917. Not a man entertained the slightest thought 
or wish of doing so. Borup Lodge, reinforced with its 
thick covering of snow blocks, was warm and com- 
fortable, and well stocked with both food and fuel for 
a year. 

Ekblaw and Hunt were both anxious to proceed south- 
ward by dog-team across Melville Bay, being very 
apprehensive as to the very small coal-supply on board 
ship, stating that in their opinion the Danmark would 
never reach Etali, and, if she did, the passage home would 
be long and tedious under sails alone. 

When Ah-now-ka, our Eskimo boy, returned from his 
southern trip to Umanak with our mail, to my surprise 
he was accompanied by a sixteen-year-old wife. Eskimo 
marriages are generally the result of a prearrangement of 
the parents, when the future man and wife are but 
nursing babies in the hood. The motive undoubtedly 
is kinship and positive proof of the strong friendship 
between the two families. The early age of twelve, at 
which a girl is generally married, may be explained by 
the fact that as marriage is largely a matter of con- 
venience — never of love — a man is in need of some one 
to make his home comfortable, to cook his food, to dress 
the skins, to sew his clothing, and to chew his boot soles. 

It is a common practice among the Smith Sound 
Eskimos for a girl of nine and ten to have sexual inter- 
course; possibly the early marriage may be the design 
of the future husband to prevent this by claiming the 
girl as his own. Henceforth she is absolutely under the 
orders of her master, and is loaned and interchanged for 
favors received. 



1916] ALONE AT BORUP LODGE 275 

Altliougli married at twelve, a girl is unable to bear 
children until she has attained the age of eighteen. I 
have known of but one exception to this statement. 
This may have been due to the fact that the mother 
revealed traces of an infusion of white blood. 

It was the gossip of the tribe eight years before that 
Ah-now-ka was to wed the girl who had just arrived on 
his sledge. He had persistently declared, however, that 
he did not want her. To get some light on the matter, 
and not caring "to admit impediments to the marriage 
of true minds," I called the boy in and solemnized the 
union with the following colloquy: 

"Do you want this girl, Ah-now-ka?" 

"Yes, I would like to keep her if I may." 

"All right. You may have my photographic dark- 
room." 

This wedding present was not only accepted grate- 
fully by the couple, who were "at home" every hour of 
the day, but by all in the village, who called at once 
to pay their respects and to see what I had in there. 

As a sequel to the happy, or unhappy, event, we 
learned in a few weeks that the young lady was already 
married to a young man down the line and that Ah-now- 
ka had stolen her! 

With the coming and going of the Eskimos, the 
measuring and photographing of the visitors, the taking 
of the fourth census of the Smith Sound tribe, the com- 
piling of an Eskimo dictionary of 3,000 words, and the 
preparations for our long spring trip, the winter passed 
very rapidly. Now and then an incident of more than 
ordinary interest occurred, such as the visit of a white 
wolf or the swallowing of a galvanized-iron ring one inch 
and a tenth in diameter by little Megishoo. She was 



276 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Jan. 

playing "angekok" — causing the ring to disappear 
mysteriously. It did, very effectively. 

On the morning of our fourth and last Christmas, 
we each found beneath our plate the only gift of the 
day — an English sovereign, presented by Doctor Hovey. 
It was appreciated and valued as a memento of our life 
in the far North; and could only be used in this way. 
In that country money loses its value and is consigned 
to the scrap-heap. 

Roast venison, mashed potatoes, turnips, hot biscuits, 
coffee jelly, tapioca custard, fancy cakes, coffee, and 
cigars made up the list of good things set down before 
us at three in the afternoon. 

We were astonished, as well as chagrined, to be in- 
formed, on the morning of January 8th, that there had 
been a total eclipse of the moon from one o'clock to 
four. The Eskimos were all awake and enjoying the 
phenomenon, while the white men were sound asleep, 
ignorant of the whole affair. We felt that the Eskimos 
had stolen a march on us. 

Six sledges arrived on January 11th, bringing us news 
of Ekblaw's and Hunt's departure on December 15th, 
and also news of the great world war. We learned that 
Lord Kitchener and his staff had been drowned, that a 
big naval engagement had taken place off the coast of 
Denmark, that a German submarine had reached Balti- 
more, that von Moltke was dead, and that the United 
States had acquired, by purchase, the Danish West 
Indies, conceding to Denmark at this time the right to 
control all of Greenland. The last piece of news was of 
the highest interest to our Eskimos.hithertofree and inde- 
pendent, henceforth subject to the control of a foreign 
nation. 



19171 ALONE AT BORUP LODGE 277 

One letter was of especial interest. It was from 
Stefansson, the Canadian explorer. He had gone into 
the Arctic by way of the Pacific and Bering Strait; I 
by way of the Atlantic and Baffin Bay. Our trails 
crossed in the far North. He followed mine and came 
to our snow house on the southern shore of Ellef Ringnes 
Island, where he found and read my record. 

His letter was written from the Bay of Mercy in 
Bank's Land, distant from Borup Lodge eight hundred 
miles. To reach me it had traveled more than ten thou- 
sand miles, almost in a complete circle, starting with 
dog-team for Canada and America, crossing the ocean 
to Denmark, thence to North Greenland, and to Etah 
by power-boat. 

The report of a strange ship working northward 
through the ice near Tasiusak led to all kinds of con- 
jectures as to her identity. According to the native 
report: "Her captain was in a glass house on deck. 
He pointed northward and said, 'Cape York."* This 
led us to believe that the ship was an American yacht 
with a pilot-house. Since I have reached home I have 
learned that the unknown was Captain Bernier, the 
Canadian explorer, endeavoring to communicate with 
us at Etah with the possibility of effecting our release. 
With no reward or promise of reward, he had gone far 
out of his way to render what aid he could. 

A chance remark by In-a-loo, one of the most intelli- 
gent in the tribe, was interesting. 

"This land was at one time all under water." 

"Why do you think so?" I inquired. 

"There are clam-shells high up on the hills in many 
places, and I have seen north of Kab-loo-na-ding-me the 
bones of a large whale high up on the hill above the 



278 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Jan. 

water. This shows that at one time this was all sea 
bottom. 

"This must have been before the time when there 
was only one man and one woman. It is strange where 
they came from, but this is what our fathers and grand- 
fathers have told us. We can't put things down as you 
do on paper. What we learn is told to us by our elders, 
and then we tell others." 

"Do you remember, In-a-loo, the white men who 
lived in a little house over at Kab-loo-na-ding-me when 
you were a little girl?" I inquired, referring to the Polaris 
Expedition of 1872. 

"Yes," she said, "I remember it well. The ship was 
on the shore, but the men lived in a small wooden house, 
to which we often went and stayed for days at a time. 
One of the men was large and fat, and all had beards 
which they cut with scissors. When the men went 
away in two boats in the spring, many things were left 
on the shore and in the house. We found many books 
packed in boxes, and in them I first saw pictures; they 
frightened me so that I ran away. I remember a pict- 
ure of a dog and of a man. One box was large, with a 
cover all of glass; this was full of books. The Eskimos 
broke this glass into pieces and used it as windows for 
their snow houses and igloos. The ship at this time 
was nearly full of ice. After the men went away she 
drifted off into deep water and sank just inside of 
Littleton Island. 

"When a new ship (the relief -ship) came that summer, 
we were very much afraid. The white men said, 
'Where is the ship.?' We replied, 'She is there on the 
bottom.' They said, 'You are lying!' The ship an- 
chored off the north end of Littleton Island. Twice it 



1917] ALONE AT BOECJP LODGE 279 

steamed away toward Cape Sabine, but came back and 
anchored south of Cape Ohlsen. We told them where 
the white men's house was and they went there. We 
were all very much afraid because we had taken so many 
things. You see, our men wanted the wood for sledges. 
Some of the people were so afraid that they walked to 
Anoritok when they saw the ship coming back." 

This is the Eskimo woman's account of the Polaris 
Expedition under the command of Capt. Charles Francis 
Hall on its retreat south in the fall of 1872, after an un- 
successful attempt to reach the Pole. The men who 
retreated south in two open boats in the spring were 
picked up in Melv^ille Bay by the Scotch whaler Raven- 
scraig, and were returned home in various ships by way 
cf Europe. 

When hunting walrus with the Eskimos, they have 
often pointed out the location of the old Polaris, now 
resting upon the bottom. 

On March 5th fifteen Eskimos arrived from the 
south. One of them brought a letter from Ekblaw, 
announcing his safe arrival at Upernavik, but in a crip- 
pled condition because of two badly frosted toes. He 
was very much in doubt about being able to reach 
Holstensborg in time for the steamer. If he should fail 
in doing this, then he planned to await the relief -ship at 
Godhaven, where we expected to call on our way south. 

Everything was now in full swing for the departure 
both of Doctor Hovey and of myself; he to proceed 
across Melville Bay by dog-team to the ports in South 
Greenland, where he could embark on a steamer for 
Europe, and I for the exploration and survey of the 
stretch of coast between Cape Sabine and Clarence 
Head. 



280 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mae. 

Doctor Hovey was apparently in the best of health, 
for he had been well clothed and well fed throughout 
the winter. He had religiously taken his one hour's 
exercise every day, regardless of the severity of the 
weather. Now that the sun was high and the seals 
were up on the ice, furnishing plenty of good fresh meat 
for dogs and man, there was no reason why he should 
not take the long trip in safety. Koo-la-ting-wa, one 
of the best dog-drivers in the North and a man in whom 
we had absolute faith, was secured by promises of a 
liberal reward for the important task. He selected as 
his assistants his own son, Ee-meen-ya and Tau-ching- 
wa. This southern division was fitted out with tea, 
biscuit, pemmican, and everything absolutely needed 
for the work. Hovey left Etah on March 24th, and 
reached New York the latter part of August, upon the 
very day that we arrived at Sydney, Cape Breton. 



XIV 

CAPE SABINE TO CLARENCE HEAD 

AFTER three years' work in the Arctic, with Etah 
-^*- as our base, what was there left for us to do? 
The primary object of our expedition had been accom- 
plished in 1914; Ekblaw had explored the Greely Piord 
and Lake Hazen region in 1915; the region north of the 
Parry Islands had been covered in 1916. Running my 
eye over the map, ever searching for a blank spot or a 
dotted coast-line, I always returned to the Peary Channel 
as the most important bit of work to be done within 
the bounds of the meager resources left to us after 
8,000 miles of sledge-work. The few remaining biscuit, 
pemmican, and sledge material had been carefully hus- 
banded for future work against the non-arrival of the 
ship. My Eskimos were still faithful, and willing to go 
with me to the ends of the earth. 

I had not forgotten the day when, on our way to the 
northern end of Greenland, we passed the mouth of 
that channel and saw its great white highway stretching 
into the east to merge into the distant sky-line. How I 
longed to turn my team and follow it to its end! But 
my plans to do so on the return came to naught. 

To my disappointment, Rasmussen, in September, 
1916, announced his intention of completing his work 



282 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mar. 

in the Peary Channel which he had begun in 1912. 
The rules of Arctic work demanded that I sacrifice all 
in his favor, and look elsewhere for a rounding out of 
our four years' work. 

Browsing among my Arctic books a few weeks later, 
the following quotation from a paper read by Sir Clem- 
ents Markham before the Royal Geographical Society 
attracted my attention: 

Next to northern Greenland, the most interesting part of the un- 
known region is the land on the western side of the northern part 
of Baffin Bay, between Smith Sound and Jones Sound, and extend- 
ing along the Jones Sound to the west and north. It was named 
Ellesmere Land by Sir Edward Inglefield, who saw it from the deck 
of the Isabella in 1852. It is called Oo-ming-man (the land of the 
musk-oxen) by the Eskimos. No one, so far as we know, has ever 
landed between Jones Sound and Smith Sound. 

Since the above was written, Mr. H. G. Bryant, 
president of the Geographical Society of Philadelphia, 
had landed upon this coast at Cape Faraday and at 
Clarence Head, when in charge of the Peary Relief 
Expedition of 1892. 

For three years, from the high hills surrounding 
Foulke Fiord, I had watched the sun rolling along over 
those snow-capped mountains to the west; had tried 
to penetrate with my glasses those deep fiords; and had 
followed the coast far to the south to the vanishing- 
point. I decided that this should be my fourth year's 
work — the exploration and survey of the Ellesmere 
Land coast from Cape Sabine to Clarence Head. 

The stretch of coast-line, as laid down upon the 
latest maps, is quite inaccurate, due to the fact that the 
information was acquired from a ship's deck several 
miles from the shore. On account of the prevailing 



1917] CAPE SABINE TO CLARENCE HEAD 283 

deep snows of spring, no one had attempted to pass from 
point to point with dog-team in the attempt to survey 
the coast. It was by far the most important task 
within our reach, and I decided to attempt it with the 
help of E-took-a-shoo, Arkho, and Ak-pood-a-shah-o. 
We still had biscuit, pemmican, and oil enough for the 
work. This could be supplemented, I hoped, with seal 
and polar bear killed on the trip. 

Sunday, March 25, 1917, saw four heavily loaded 
sledges and forty-two dogs dashing out of Etah. Six 
hundred pounds on a 125-pound sledge, and a 180- 
pound man on top of that — a total of 905 pounds — was 
a heavy load for my ten dogs. They had been well 
fed, however, and were in excellent spirits, as their 
tightly curled, bushy tails showed. Rounding Sunrise 
Point, I pictured Doctor Hayes and his men, fifty-six 
years before, laboriously pulling their boats northward 
over the ice in search of an open Polar Sea. How per- 
sistent that belief was in the minds of scientific men! 

Upon opening my precious four-year biscuit that night 
at "Kab-loo-na-ding-me," I discovered, to my dismay, 
a mass of mold, and immediately reproached myself for 
not making an examination during the winter. A hasty 
removal of the top layer disclosed, to my joy, that the 
remainder was edible, while very musty; yet in com- 
parison with none at all, it was of priceless value. 

At thirty-six below zero, the sledges dragged hard 
over young ice covered with an inch of granular snow. 
Sand could hardly have been worse. In 1914 we did 
in three hours what in 1917 we took a day and a half 
to accomplish. The Arctic is full of disappointments. 

As we were drinking our tea at Ka-mowitz, a party 
of nine Eskimos drove past on their way to the musk-ox 

19 



284 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mab. 

grounds far to the west in Eureka Sound. They had 
nothing on their sledges but a few gallons of oil and 
several pieces of frozen meat — real explorers! Born in 
Greenland, they were now going back over the old 
migration trail of their ancestors of centuries ago. How 
they do like to travel, see new lands and strange 
things. 

An incident in the crossing of Smith Sound the follow- 
ing day is an illustration of what often happens in Arctic 
work. We were about five miles from land and headed 
for Victoria Head when I halted my team to untangle 
the traces, a rather disagreeable task and one which it 
is necessary to perform about every hour or so, according 
to the condition of the ice. Arklio was about fifty yards 
in advance, and Ak-pood-a-shah-o not that distance in 
the rear. As I gathered the traces to ring them to the 
bridle, a gust of wind and a flurry of snow caused me 
to look up — my men were out of sight! Within a few 
minutes it was a blizzard; the drift so blinding that 
I could scarcely see the tails of my dogs. Urging them 
to greater speed and running behind the sledge, I en- 
deavored to overtake my men. At the end of fifteen 
minutes, it was clearly evident that I had lost the trail 
and had passed my party, whether north or south I 
did not know. 

Setting a course by the wind, I headed south for the 
open water which is always present between Littleton 
Island and Cape Sabine, intending to follow its edge 
west on the thin ice, as the quickest and most direct 
way to the western shore. A gleam of sun through 
the drift and a glance at my watch checked up my 
points of compass and acted as a guard against a sudden 
change of wind, a circumstance which has resulted 



1917] CAPE SABINE TO CLARENCE HEAD 285 

disastrously to many a man and many a ship in Baffin 
Bay, where the sluggish compass can hardly be trusted. 

Broken and badly cracked thin ice forced me to the 
north, where I found such an attractive-looking snow- 
bank that I was tempted to burrow in for the night- — a 
very comfortable home, when furnished with a good 
caribou sleeping-bag, a box of biscuit, a six-pound 
can of pemmican, a Primus stove, and plenty of oil; 
all these I had on my sledge. The thought, however, 
of my men arriving on the western shore ahead of me, 
and their consequent anxiety over my absence, spurred 
me on. 

One incident of the day amused me. Through a rift 
in the drift about 200 yards away there appeared to be 
a number of dogs and sledges. The dogs were asleep; 
the sledges were partly buried in the snow. Where 
were the men? Standing upon my load, I yelled my 
loudest and vigorously waved both arms without de- 
tecting the slightest sign of movement. Upon a closer 
examination, the vision proved to be dirt-covered ice 
only a few yards away 

At five o'clock in the afternoon I crossed the trail of 
six sledges going a little north of west — the sledges which 
had passed our camp the day before. The wind had 
now abated and there were evidences of clearing weather. 

Within a half-hour black dots could be seen in the 
distance in addition to the faint outlines of two snow 
houses. Upon my arrival with clothes and sledge white 
with snow, amazement was depicted upon every coun- 
tenance. Although they were only one hour ahead of 
me, they had experienced no wind or snow whatever. 
How they laughed upon learning that I had lost my men. 

In the mean time, Arklio, E-took-a-shoo, and Ak-pood- 



286 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mab. 

a-sliah-o were quartering the ice of Smith Sound in 
search of me and my trail. There was no thought of 
desertion. One walked far to the north; another, south; 
and the third remained with the sledges on the trail, 
firing his rifle every few minutes to guide his companions 
back, and with the hope that I might hear it. 

Ak-pood-a-shah-o reported my tracks far to the 
south, going west. They at once drove on, and arrived 
at our camp about seven in the evening. 

On the morning of the 28th we awoke to the rustling 
of drift over and around our snow house A smother of 
snow! Dogs, sledges, houses, buried in drift! The 
thermometer was only five below zero and the wind 
southeast. We knew that such a storm might continue 
for days. E-took-a-shoo built a long snow entrance, 
terminating in a kind of storm-porch, thus keeping the 
drift away from the door. 

I visited the snow houses of the musk-ox party, taking 
with me as a donation a six-pound can of pemmican, 
for which I received walrus and bear meat in return. 

Checkers, cards, stories, and tobacco, with which I 
always provided the Eskimos, shortened many of those 
long hours of the 28th, 29th, and 30th. Signs of clear- 
ing weather at noon quickened our packing and our de- 
parture west, very happy to leave the middle of Smith 
Sound for the shelter of the big hills of Ellesmere Land. 

Open water extending north of Cape Sabine compelled 
a detour well up into Buchanan Bay and a passage south 
by way of Rice Strait, in the middle of which we camped. 
Above our igloo on the summit of a knoll could be seen 
the cairn of Sverdrup of the Fram and the wooden cross 
in memory of his doctor, Svendson, who was buried 
here through a hole in the ice. Stretched along the 




SUNSET OVER CAPE SABINE 




GLACIER A FEW MILES NORTH OF CAPE YORK 



1917] CAPE SABINE TO CLARENCE HEAD 287 

shore was a cable, which was undoubtedly the mooring- 
line of the famous old ship of Nansen. 

On reaching Cape Herschel, we were again blocked 
by open water, and we turned inland among the hills. 
Hitching twenty dogs to a sledge, we forced our teams 
through frozen gravel and stones, nearly ruining our 
steel runners. 

About two miles southwest of this pass, I searched the 
land carefully for the remains of Greely's first camp on 
his famous retreat of 1883. His accurate description in 
Three Years of Arctic Service enabled me to recognize 
the exact location, and within a few minutes we found 
the crumbling walls of the three stone huts. Here 
Greely and his men landed, following their retreat of 
270 miles from their headquarters in Lady Franklin 
Bay. Hoping against hope and with only thirty -five 
days' provisions, they began the construction of their 
huts. A few days later Rice returned from Cape Sabine, 
whither he had been sent in the hope of finding a cache 
of food left by the relief -ship of 1882. He had found 
the food and a note stating that the relief -ship of 1883 
had been crushed and that the men had departed south 
in open boats. Greely decided at once to move his camp 
to the vicinity of the cache at Cape Sabine. 

We were the first to examine the ruins of these houses 
since the departure of the ill-fated party in October, 
1883. A removal of the snow in the interior revealed 
the stern of a large boat, with the ring-bolt intact, and 
the very section of the narwhal horn found and de- 
scribed by Greely. 

April 1st presented us with a mixture of both good and 
bad luck. Cape Isabella was absolutely impassable. 
Exposed as it is to violent winds, swirling tides, and cur- 



288 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [April 

rents, it acts as a buttress against which great fields of 
drift ice come smashing and cracking over the ice-foot, 
raising a broken, chaotic mass sixty feet high. A view 
from the summit on the south side of the cape was not 
a bit encouraging — open water everywhere. 

Years ago I had read that the British North Pole 
Expedition of 1875-76 had landed here and left a whale- 
boat, built a cairn, and deposited a record. I thorough- 
ly examined every nook, cleft, and crevice in hopes of 
finding this forty- two-year-old boat. That night I 
learned from one of my boys that this boat had been 
found and taken away by the Eskimos many years 
ago. 

Where were the cairn and records .f' Capt. Sir George 
Nares says, in his Voyage to the Polar Sea: 

Commander Markham landed in a small bay on the south side 
of the extreme point of the cape. After an extremely rough scram- 
ble up one of the gullies, a cairn was erected on the outer spur of 
Cape Isabella, 700 feet above the water-line, a cask for letters and 
a few cases of preserved meat being liidden away on a lower point, 
about 300 feet high, magnetic west of the cairn. 

The gullies were filled with hard, compacted snow, 
rendering the ascent difficult and dangerous. Noting 
that my Eskimos lacked enthusiasm over the prospec- 
tive journey, I sent them back to camp. In about an 
hour I reached the summit, and there I found the cairn. 
I rolled away stone after stone, removed the snow care- 
fully, and examined the ground — not a trace of a record. 
I followed carefully the steps in the snowbank cut on 
the ascent to the ice-foot below. 

"Now for the cask," thought I to myself as I headed 
west along the foot of the bluff. Climbing to the three- 
hundred-foot level, I scanned the rocks carefully, finally 



1917] CAPE SABINE TO CLARENCE HEAD 289 

locating a barrel with the head marked "Alert." Within 
the barrel was a copper tube containing two records 
written by Captain Nares, one of which read as follows: 

Arctic Expedition 
H.M.S. Alert 

Her Majesty's ships Alert and Discovery here on their way south 
to Port Foulke. The Alert wintered in Latitude 82° 27' N., Longi- 
tude 61° 22' W., inside grounded ice. The Discovery wintered in a 
sheltered harbor in Latitude 81° 44' N., Longitude 65° 30' W. 

The sledge crews of the Alert, after a severe journey over the ice, 
succeeded in attaining Latitude 83° 30' N., and the coast-line from 
the winter quarters of the Alert to the northward and westward was 
explored to Latitude 82° 23' N., Longitude 84° 26' W., Cape Colum- 
bia, the northernmost cape, being in Latitude 83° 7' N., Longitude 
70° 30' W. 

Sledge parties from the Discovery explored the north coast of 
Greenland to Lat. 82° 21' N., Long. 52° W. (approximately), a dis- 
tance of 70 miles beyond Repulse Harbor. 

No land was sighted to the northward of the above explorations 
except a few small islands at the extreme of the Greenland coast 
explored. 

Lady Franklin Sound was explored by the Discovery and was 
foimd to run S. W. 65 miles, and terminated in two small bays; also 
Peterman's Fiord for 19 miles, and was then found to be impass- 
able for sledges, owing to glacier ice. 

A seam of coal 25 yards long, 22 feet thick, was found in the 
neighborhood of the Discovery's Winter Quarters. 

Employed in sledge traveling. Four deaths have occurred: 

NeUs C. Peterson, Interpreter, at winter quarters on the 14th 
May, from the effects of a severe frost bite (which necessitated a 
part of each foot being amputated) followed by exhaustion and 
scorbutic taint. 

H.M.S. Alert. — George Porter, Gunner, R.N. on the 8th June of 
scurvy and general debility, when absent on a sledge journey, and 
was buried in the floe in Lat. 82° 41' N. 

H.M.S. Discovery. — James I. Hand, A.B. of scurvy on the 13th 
June and Charles W. Paul, A.B. of scurvy on the 29th of June; both 
bm"ied in Polaris Bay. 

The ice in the Polar Sea broke up on the 20th day of July,^ and on 
the 31st the Alert left her Winter Quarters, and on the 12th of August 



290 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Apbil 

joined the Discovery. Both ships left "Discovery Bay" on the 20th 
day of August and proceeded south. 
All well. 

We are homeward bound with very little ice in sight. We shall 
call at Disco, but not at Littleton Island or Port Foulke. 

G. S. Nares, 

Captain R.N. 
Commanding Arctic Expedition. 

In the afternoon I returned to the locality for a further 
examination, taking my Eskimo boys with me. Nothing 
could escape their sharp eyes. Within a few minutes 
following our arrival E-took-a-shoo dug out of the snow 
a tin wrapped in heavy sail-cloth containing two letters 
for Captain Nares and one for Captain Stephenson. 

Pandora, August 2Ji-th midnight 1876. 
Dear Captain Nares: — 

On our previous visit here — Aug. 6th, 1876 — ^we were blown off 
by a gale and drift ice, and have ever since that date been attempt- 
ing to regain the cape; a solid pack of drift ice extending from Cape 
Dunsterville on the west shore to Cairn Point on the east shore 
preventing our reaching witliin 10 miles of Cape Isabella. 

I have tried to get northward, but have not been able to reach 
beyond Cape Paterson on this side, or Latitude 78° 45' on the east 
side. 

On August 6th our landing party were unable to examine the pack- 
ages, and we were thus in doubt as to whether they were your dis- 
patches or some of your provisions, and hence my attempts to 
regain the cape. 

Failing in our repeated attempts to regain the cape, and seeing 
no prospect of our doing so this season, I landed the bulk of your 
letters and dispatches on the lower point N. N. E. (mag.) from your 
cairn on Littleton Island and where I hope they will be even more 
accessible to you than on tliis cape. 

After a heavy southerly gale yesterday, we have succeeded in 
getting tlu-ough the S. W. pack, and if I succeed in getting back 
into clear water, I proceed homewards at the end of this month, 
having cruised here all the navigable season in the event of your 
sending a boat party to Littleton Island. 



1917] CAPE SABINE TO CLARENCE HEAD 291 

Trusting that you are all well and have succeeded in your arduous 
work. Yours truly, 

Allen Young. 
Landed at 1 A. M. August 25, and on examination found the cask 
to be empty and the cans to contain preserved meat. They will be 
left as they were found. 

It is evident no sledge party has visited this place. 

Charles W. Arbuthnot. 

An interesting letter, showing as it does that Captain 
Nares had been here, had stood within twenty feet of 
his mail, and had failed to find it. 

I now decided to return to Etah, and, if Rasmussen 
had not arrived on his way northward, I would then 
attempt the exploration of the Peary Channel. 

On the return we swung up into Baird Inlet for a sur- 
vey of its unexplored shores. The inner reaches of this 
fiord were so deep in snow that our dogs wallowed up 
to their necks. We had left our snow-shoes at the 
mouth of the inlet, so we found it impossible to leave 
the sledges and thus help out the dogs. We had no tent 
and the snow was not suitable for building purposes. 
For a time it seemed likely that we were to sleep in the 
open with our backs against our sledges. Finally 
Ark-pood-a-shah-o discovered a mass of snow somewhat 
different in its appearance from its surroundings; this 
he declared to be an avalanche of snow, which had 
shot down from the cliffs above with such force that the 
concussion had solidified it into excellent building 
material. 

The shores of this inlet consist of a series of beautiful 
glaciers, many of which I named after my fellow-workers, 
Ekblaw, Tanquary, Green, Allen, Hunt, and Small. 
Those on the north side seemed fairly to tumble from 
the snow-covered heights above in their eagerness to 



292 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Apbil 

reach the sea. At the extreme head, a glacier recedes 
in a gentle incline straight into the west to lose its out- 
lines in the blue of the sky. What a magnificent 
highway! And how I longed for time to go on and 
up and over and down into that western musk-ox 
country ! 

Picking up our loads at the mouth of the inlet, we 
headed north for the pass through the hills of Cape Her- 
schel. As the dogs, dragging their heavy loads, started 
up the slope with ease, I thought of Rice, Frederick, and 
Lynn of the Greely party, trying in vain to drag their 
frozen companion, Elison, up over the hill on November 
10, 1883. Here they camped in a northerly gale, with the 
temperature at twenty-two below zero, while Rice hurried 
on to Camp Clay for help. 

Not only were EHson's hands and feet frozen, but his face was 
frozen to such an extent that there was but httle semblance of hu- 
manity in the poor fellow as he was dragged through the narrow door 
of our wretched hut that November night. He begged piteously 
for death the first week. — Greely. 

It seems fitting that this pass should be known as the 
Elison Pass, in memory of the man who suffered so 
heroically for months to come, and who was courageous 
to the last. 

On Friday, April 6th, North Pole Day, we camped in 
Peary's old hut at Cape Sabine. With a heavy wind 
and drift, and the thermometer at sixteen below, we 
soon despaired of ever making it a home, even with three 
Primus stoves going full blast. There was far more 
prospect of comfort in walking than in accepting the 
hospitality of such a shack. I visited and photo- 
graphed the English cairn of 1875 on Brevoort Island. 



1917] CAPE SABINE TO CLARENCE HEAD 293 

Here the first information of the whereabouts of the 
Greely party was found by Lieutenant Taunt. Return- 
ing, I called at Stalknecht Island to search for the cairn 
in which Lieutenant Harlow also found a record. How 
thrilled those men on the Thetis must have been upon 
observing the signal: "Have found Greely 's records; 
send five men"! And with what emotion those records 
were read in the ward-room! And with what anxiety 
Schley signaled full speed ahead upon learning that 
"the latest date borne by any of them was October 
21, 1883, and that but forty days' complete rations 
were left to live upon"! Historic ground .^^ Yes, every- 
where! 

The following morning we rounded the cape and 
sledged up the coast of Bedford Pirn Island to the Star- 
vation Camp of Greely. Thirty-three years before the 
Bear and the Thetis, under the command of Captain 
Schley, had steamed along the same coast. Outlined 
against the sky stood a man feebly waving a flag. As 
the steam-launch reached the beach, the man stumbled 
and fell, rose to his feet, and fell again. Finally, he 
clutched the bow of the boat. Seven were left out of 
twenty-five. 

I walked to the crest of Cemetery Ridge, and there 
the whole picture presented itself as vividly portrayed by 
Greely and Schley. Below me on the flat stretch was 
the frozen lake from which the party obtained water, 
and just beyond, projecting above the snow, were the 
outlines of the rock hut. At my right, in the lee of a 
ledge, I could plainly see the ring of rocks which held 
down the tent of the dying men. 

In 1909 I visited the headquarters of this expedition 
at Lady Franklin Bay, in 81° 44' N. The house and 



294 FOUR YEARS IN ^THE WHITE NORTH [April 

grounds were littered v/ith equipment and personal be- 
longings. Upon the page of an almost blank note- 
book there were three lines: 

Past, Present, and Future, 

Dost thou remember long, long ago 

Those school-days which we loved so well? 

Some one of the party, longing for the homeland, 
had planned to write something of his past life, of his 
present, and of his future. Only two lines of his past! 

Finding a school-book, I turned back the cover and 
read on the fly-leaf: 

To my dear father. From his affectionate son, Harry Kisling- 
bury. May God be with you and return you safely to us. 

The little fellow's prayer was not answered. His 
father, Lieutenant Kislingbury, was the twelfth to die. 

We arrived at Etah on the 9th. Rasmussen arrived 
on the 10th. To my astonishment, although about to 
undertake a 1,000-mile trip to the northern end of 
Greenland and return, he had practically no oil, very 
little biscuit, and no pemmican. His plan to live 
chiefly on the country and cook with willow roots en- 
tailed so much suffering and danger that I finally per- 
suaded him to outfit from our stores. Thirty gallons of 
oil, 100 pounds of biscuit, and 200 of pemmican could 
be well spared to a man who had aided us in so many 
ways. 

A lack, however, of an indispensable part of an Arctic 
man's equipment — snow-shoes — has caused me serious 
apprehensions as to tbe safe return of all of his party. 
It was his plan to follow the coast northward by way of 
Kane Basin, Kennedy and Robeson Channel, with the 




THE REMAINS OF THE GREELY STARVATION HUT AT CAMP SABINE 




PEARY S OLD HUT AT CAPE SABINE 

Headquarters of 1900-02 North Pole Expedition. 



1917] CAPE SABINE TO CLARENCE HEAD 295 

Peary Channel and Cape Morris Jesup as his objective 
point, returning over the ice-cap to Etah August 1st. 
His party consisted of two white men: Koch, geologist, 
and Wulff, botanist, and also four Eskimos. He failed 
to return; and at the present writing no tidings whatever 
have been received.^ 

With the departure of the Rasmussen party on 
April 15th I decided to attempt again what I had 
just failed in doing — a survey of the eastern coast 
of Ellesmere Land from Cape Sabine to Clarence 
Head. 

Within a few weeks seals would be plentiful as food 
for our dogs, and possibly the sea ice would be solid 
and stationary around Capes Sabine, Herschel, and 
Isabella. 

On Thursday, May 3d, we were off again for Cape 
Sabine, where we arrived May 6th, having encountered 
another driving snowstorm on Smith Sound. To meet 
my men two days later after they had been feeding 
upon three-year-old narwhal meat was a far more 
severe test of physical endurance. Great Caesar! what 
a stench! It persisted in keeping us company for miles 
and miles. 

The ice at Cape Herschel was unchanged. Again the 
Elison Pass; and again ruined runners, demanding hours 
of hard work with emery-paper to restore them to their 
former bright and smooth condition. 

Quoting from my field journal of May 9, 1917: 

One below zero at eight o'clock. . . , We are in camp to-night on 
south side of Cape Isabella, a point I have wanted to reach for 

^ The Rasmussen party has been reported by cable to have reached Etah 
late in the summer of 1917 in a star^^ng condition, and with the loss of 
Doctor Wulff, the botanist, and Hendrik Olsen, a half-breed South-Greenland 
dog-driver, — Editok. 



296 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [May 

some months. From now on it is new country, only two points of 
which a man has touched, namely Cape Faraday and Clarence 
Head. 

Owing to the late storm, the going is now good. Fortunately, our 
loads are light or we should not have reached this point. Open 
water around end of cape; therefore we ascended over the WyviUe 
Thompson Glacier. The perspiration ran down our bodies in 
streams; and what a time coming down! A shoot the chute, a loop 
the loop, and an aerial railway all in one! It was certainly exciting; 
I felt hke going back and trying it over again. 

Arklio was ahead and knew where he was going. I didn't! See- 
ing him disappear around a sharp turn with his dogs in tow, I whipped 
my dogs to the rear, seized the handle-bars, and followed. There 
is a law of falling bodies which runs: "Sixteen feet the first second, 
thirty-two the next, etc., etc." It was not many seconds before I 
was in the etc., etc., and still going somewhere. As I shot around 
the corner with all my brakes on and wheel hard astarboard, I saw 
Arklio crawhng out of a snowbank at the foot of the slope. Would 
I clear him or strike him, was my first thought.'' In spite of every 
effort, the sledge slewed around broadside on, and away she 
went over and over so rapidly that, although my sledge-bag and 
biscuit-tin were open, not a thing came out! I looped only 
once! 

Chuckling a bit, I confess, we quickly cleared the wreck from 
the track for the two unsuspecting express trains which we knew were 
to follow at any moment. Around they came, one following the other 
closely. Braced back to the limit, with his sturdy short legs plow- 
ing a furrow, and the southernmost part of his body almost drag- 
ging the ground, E-took-a-shoo was a picture of activity and energy. 
If anything happened, he was a "gonner"; he would surely have 
been spitted by the rapidly following sledge. 

His grip, his eye, his judgment, his muscles — all had been trained 
by generations of such experiences, and down he sailed like a bird, 
as did the man behind him. 

Nestling among the hills, there were two frozen lakes, 
one of which was perhaps a half-mile long and a quarter- 
mile wide; the other nearly circular and about 300 yards 
in diameter. 

Reaching the shore by a descent of the outlet bed, 
we discovered the remains of a sledge belonging to one 



1917] CAPE SABINE TO^ CLARENCE HEAD 297 

of a party of bear-hunters tliree years before. They 
failed to find game, and they were, as a result, in very 
straitened circumstances. Nearly all of their dogs died 
of starvation, and their masters only reached Etah after 
experiencing considerable hardships. 

In front of our camp, the ice was all in motion and 
intersected by large cracks. To drive out on its surface 
would simply invite disaster. To drive back again to 
the lakes and descend to the shore by a pass farther 
west was our only alternative. 

When we reached Paget Point we were again driven 
inland by open water, and pitched our tent well up into 
Cadogan Inlet, hitherto unexplored and unsurveyed. 
Its shores consist of a succession of glaciers flowing from 
the ice-cap above through every outlet to the sea; very 
different from what is depicted on our latest maps. In 
fact, this whole western land seemed to be buried be- 
neath a heavy mantle of snow and ice and to be at least 
ten degrees colder than our temperatures at Etah. At 
this camp on May 10th, our thermometer registered 
fourteen below zero. This difference in temperature and 
in depth of snow and ice between the opposite sides of 
Smith Sound, one uninhabitable and the other an Arctic 
oasis, is undoubtedly due to the fact that on the east 
side we have a northward flowing current of water and a 
downward and outward current of air, which is heated 
adiabatically in its descent from a 10,000-foot altitude. 
On the western side, we find hugging the shore the Arc- 
tic pack, flowing southward from the Polar Sea down 
through Kennedy Channel, Robeson Channel, and 
Smith Sound; and comparatively no, or very little, 
wind, as is evidenced by the large amount of deep, soft 
snow in the fiords. 



298 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [May 

On Friday, May 11th, we crossed over the summit of 
the big Sparks Glacier. To my surprise, although the 
temperature was twenty-two below zero, near the sea 
ice on the southern side there was a spouting stream 
of water issuing from a crevice. Freezing as it fell, it 
looked like a composite picture of a geyser of Yellow- 
stone Park and a winter scene at Niagara Falls. 

As I was descending the glacier, I noted the existence 
of an unmapped island embedded in the sea ice two miles 
from shore and about two miles south of Paget Point. 
To my inquiry, the Eskimo boys replied that it was an 
island; that they had often camped upon it when bear- 
hunting; and that in size it was about that of Littleton 
Island near Etah, which would make it a mile long and 
a half-mile wide. This I have named Orne Island. 

How often in the North I have blessed the man of 
centuries ago who devised the snow-shoe. It is the 
only part of one's equipment for which one feels a real 
affection. To strap on a pair of snow-shoes and stride 
off over the surface through which a man has been wal- 
lowing laboriously for hours must be very similar to the 
sensation experienced by a spent swimmer who reaches 
for and clutches a life-preserver. Think of the gritty 
Englishmen of the British Expedition of 1875-76 plod- 
ding day after day through snow thigh-deep along the 
northern shore of Grant Land, until, finally, physically 
exhausted by their efforts, they resorted to standing 
pulls and the count, "One — two — three — pull!" One 
step at a time! And remember Beaumont and his men 
from the Discovery crawling on hands and knees through 
deep snows across the Keltic Gulf.^^ They were men! 
But, unfortunately, men who knew nothing of the 
Indian snow-shoe. 



1917] CAPE SABINE TO CLARENCE HEAD 299 

Our shoe was the Tubbs shoe from Norway, Maine, 
forty-eight by twelve, beautifully made and well adapted 
for dog-team work and the compact, wind-blown snows of 
the Arctic. For this shore, however, a wider shoe would 
have been preferable. From Paget Point to Clarence 
Head and back, snow-shoes made our work possible. 
After our experiences there, I can readily understand why 
this stretch of coast has never been surveyed. 

On the 11th we pitched our tent upon the ice-foot of 
a Look headland which resembled, from a few miles 
north, a magnificent high island, which proved upon an 
examination to be connected with the mainland by a 
flat, narrow neck. Our sledges were no sooner un- 
packed than Arklio, from the summit of a high rock, 
descried a polar bear one mile to the south. The fun 
was on, and away they went chatting like boys out of 
school. Three hours later, E-took-a-shoo came gallop- 
ing in astride of the bear. The bear was dead, however, 
and lashed to his sledge. This was one of the days 
when we sat up for twenty-four hours, as we often did 
in order to get a series of midnight-sun pictures, also 
sights for longitude, latitude, and compass variation. 

As we left this camp and drove south, I noticed what 
appeared to be an enormous glacier stretching almost to 
Cape Faraday. A closer examination later proved this 
glacier to be at least twenty miles along its face, the 
second largest in size in the whole Smith Sound region. 
This I have named the American Museum Glacier. The 
surface of the ice was a perfect network of bear tracks. 
Our dogs, with tails tightly curled and short, quick yelps, 
led us on and along the face of this glacier for four hours 
in pursuit of a bear. Far ahead I could see Arklio vigor- 
ously pumping both arms, which, translated from the 
20 



300 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mat 

sign language, informed me that nanooh (bear) was in 
sight. E-took-a-shoo and I snapped our whips and 
yelled ourselves hoarse in our endeavors to stimulate our 
dogs to greater effort and be in at the death. Dashing 
through a mass of rough ice, I came suddenly upon 
Arklio peering into a pool of water. In reply to my 
look of amazement, he grinned and began pulling in 
on his harpoon line. Up popped the head of the bear — 
dead! 

This incident clearly reveals the amphibious nature of 
the "tiger of the north." More at home in the water 
than on the ice-fields, he preferred to wage battle in 
the water against these strange, yelping animals rather 
than take his stand on a berg, as I have so often seen 
them do. His plan for defense was far more effective 
against the dog than against a Winchester rifle. It is 
interesting to note that Arklio had the forethought to 
harpoon first in order to make sure of his quarry; a 
polar bear sometimes sinks when shot. 

At this camp I obtained, at the edge of the glacier, 
with a transit, a double round of sights from a meas- 
ured base line of 2,000 feet; also obtained observations 
for compass variation and photographs of all the land 
south. The water at the face of the glacier, which was 
resting on the bottom, proved to be seventy-seven feet 
deep. 

On the 15th of May we passed Cape Faraday and the 
mouth of Talbot Inlet, and camped at Boger Point on 
top of a flat berg in our determination to find something 
solid beneath our feet. Covered with perspiration and 
breathing heavily, we sat on our sledges chagrined. 
Our dogs with lolling tongues could not yet understand 
why, with a mother bear and two cubs running along 




SLEDGING ON THE ICE-FOOT IN THE LATE SPRING 




THERE ARE MANY DANGEROUS CORNERS ON A NARROW ICE-FOOT WHICH 
DEMAND MOST CAREFUL WORK TO PREVENT A DROP INTO THE SEA 



1917] CAPE SABINE TO CLARENCE HEAD 301 

in front of our sledges for more than a mile, we had not 
fed them steaks and tenderloins. Nor did we! I had 
never known it to happen before. A bear in the bush 
is equal to a bear in the hand. "Well, Ak-pood-a-shah-o 
might get them yet," I thought; but as I watched his 
tired dogs crawling at a snail's pace through that ocean 
of fluffy snow I decided that Mrs, Bear need have no 
anxiety over her family. 

For some time E-took-a-shoo, with a worried look on 
his fat face, as if he doubted his sanity, persisted in the 
refrain of, "Why didn't I shoot.?" to which I just as 
persistently replied, in a very minor key, "Yes, why 
didn't you shoot.''" Four big men, four big rifles, forty 
active dogs! One mother bear, two little bears — and 
no meat! No, they wouldn^t tell that next winter when 
they narrated deeds of valor and tales of prowess in 
the darkened igloos at Etah. 

Arklio, with a "give-me-another-chance" movement, 
snatched my binoculars out of their leather case and 
swept the ice-fields. In a few minutes an excited " T-coo! 
Ping-a-soo-ne!" ("Look! Three!") announced the dis- 
covery of another family out for a stroll. Arklio had 
loaned his dogs to Ak-pood-a-shah-o, who was still in 
pursuit of the first bear. He looked at my dogs, then 
at the bears. To his implied request, I assented at 
once with a "Yes, go ahead. See what you can do." 

After the boys had gone, I strapped on my snow- 
shoes and visited the big glaciers at the head of the 
bay, taking careful sights and a panoramic view of the 
whole coast from Cape Faraday on the north to Clarence 
Head in the southeast. The coast, buried in snow and 
ice and outlines gone, is so very different from what is 
charted that points named sixty-seven years ago by 



302 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [May 

Inglefield were identified only with difficulty. On our 
latest map, "Polar Regions, Baffin Bay to Lincoln Sea," 
issued by the Navy Department on February 21, 1911, 
there are nine tidewater glaciers from Cape Sabine to 
Clarence Head. I counted, photographed, and mapped 
forty-two — one, the American Museum Glacier, being at 
least twenty miles along its face. 

The whole coast-line of Boger Point is a vast Pied- 
mont Glacier with some ten or a dozen feeders flowing 
from the interior of a rugged-looking country crowned 
with the Thorndike Peaks, which are two thousand feet 
in height. This glacier I have named in honor of the 
American Geographical Society. 

From our camp at Boger Point, it was but a few miles 
across to Clarence Head, lying more in an easterly direc- 
tion than it is delineated by the latest maps. With my 
glasses, my men could be plainly seen well beyond Cape 
Combermere, skinning a bear on the shore. Boger 
Point is in error in latitude, as is nearly every point 
on the coast. 

Saunders Island does not exist as an island. There 
is a nunatak about in that position, which, years ago, 
before the advance of the glacier, might have been an 
island. At present it is entirely surrounded by ice. 
Clarence Head is out of position relatively. Inside of 
Clarence Head the land is low and covered with large 
glaciers, receding until lost in the distance toward the 
northern shores of Jones Sound. Here was a tempting 
white highway. Prevailing deep snows and lateness of 
the season precluded an advance south from this point. 

On my return, I discovered that the three dogs which 
had been left at camp were loose and looking like ani- 
mated balloons. They had cleaned up our commissary 



1917] CAPE SABINE TO CLARENCE HEAD 303 

department in an efficient manner. My dog, I vowed, 
I would not feed for a week, seeing that she was ap- 
parently provisioned for a month. 

Arklio soon arrived with the meat and skin of a cub, 
reporting that E-took-a-shoo had eaten raw meat rather 
heartily and had dropped to sleep en route on his sledge 
and might not be in until to-morrow, I hoped that his 
dogs would not turn and eat all the meat out from under 
him. He arrived in about two hours with everything 
intact, followed by the third Eskimo with nothing but 
two highly inflamed eyes; in his rush to get away he had 
forgotten his snow-glasses. On the 16th we started 
back, swinging well up into Talbot Inlet, which we found 
to be one of the most striking bits of scenery on the 
coast. The fiord, some eight miles in length, is bordered 
by hills at least 1,000 feet in height, intersected with 
large and many glaciers. A heavy wind and strong drift 
prevented an extensive survey; what we saw was fairly 
wild in its appearance. My boys informed me that there 
were many tales and traditions relating to this very 
place, for they recognized many points from tales that 
they had heard as children. One mile from the mouth, 
a castle-like island rises abruptly out of the sea ice. 
How I longed to see this in the summer-time ! 

At Cape Faraday we stopped our sledge and made a 
minute examination of every square foot of the shore 
in hopes of finding the cairn and record left in 1894 by 
H. G. Bryant, president of the Geographical Society of 
Philadelphia. He later told me in New York that his 
record was left on tojp of the cape, which explains our 
failure to find it. 

May 18th was memorable, for on that day we heard 
the note of the first glaucous gull of the season. We 



304 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [May 

watched intently that beautiful white body gliding 
along the face of the cliff. Summer had come, although 
our temperature was zero. 

Our return trip found conditions unchanged — open 
water at the tips of all the capes. Paget Point, called by 
the natives Nook-suah (Big Point), is ice-capped, and 
sends glaciers between massive headlands to the sea. 
It took four hours to cross this from shore to shore, 
deep snows necessitating snow-shoes throughout the 
passage. 

Gale Point, at the northern entrance to Cadogan In- 
let, is marked by a beautiful buff-and-brown sandstone 
cliff. A half-hour here enabled the boys to select sev- 
eral especially fine-grained whetstones, a valuable ac- 
quisition, seeing that sharp knives are in constant de- 
mand for their daily routine of work. 

Once more we toiled up the heights of Cape Isabella 
and rested our dogs on the very summit with the 
smooth dome of Mt. Bolton at our backs. Perfect 
weather revealed the distant, but familiar, shores of 
Greenland stretching north and south until lost in the 
blue haze. Cape Isabella, the Crystal Palace Cliffs, 
Foulke Fiord, could all be easily identified. It seemed 
but a step to the door of Borup Lodge, which I knew to 
be there with its veil of smoke issuing from the chimney. 

Open water everywhere ! To the uninitiated, a cross- 
ing was absolutely impossible. But we well knew that 
far to the north, well within Kane Basin, there was an 
icy bridge awaiting us. 

A run down the north side of Isabella brought us to 
our selected camping-place upon the very spot used by 
migrating Eskimos centuries before. A circle of lichen- 
covered tent stones, roiled back by hands of Eskimos 




RELIEF-SHIP NEPTUNE IN BAFFIN BAY 




RELIEF-SHIP NEPTUNE AT ANCHOR IN ETAH HARBOR 



1917] CAPE SABINE TO CLARENCE HEAD 305 

long dead, were again rolled into place on the ground 
flap of our shelter. 

Our next camp was at Cape Herschel, that I might 
examine and search for the cairn and record left by A. 
P. Low of the Dominion Government Expedition. Here 
Mr. Low landed and took formal possession of Ellesmere 
Land in August, 1904. The cairn was demolished and 
the record gone. 

My diary reads: 

Wednesday, May 23, 1917, Smith Sound,— Open water at Cape 
Sabine gave us some hard and also dangerous work, because a slip 
or a snowslide meant a cold salt-v/ater bath following a bad fall. 
There were two dangerous points, owing to the vertical cliffs, nar- 
row ice-foot, and large, sloping snowbank. Here very cautious work 
was imperative. By cutting a furrow for one runner and using 
ropes, we got by safely. 

Rounding Cape Sabine with six seals in sight looked like the 
promised land. It was not long before we had two of them into 
our dogs. 

4.15. — A gale from the south with drift and snow. Will the tent 
hold? My boots and mittens are within reach if it decides to leave 
us. If it were not for our seven guy-ropes in addition to eight fasten- 
ings through holes in the ice, it would have gone into the air long 
ago. 

The Eskimos, sleeping on their sledges, are a mass of drifted 
snow. I can hear a smothered yeU now and then asking about the 
weather. 

7.30. — Signs of clearing. 

At 2.30 on the morning of the 24th we reached land in a smother 
of snow. Old Smith Sound gave us a savage parting as we left her 
for the last time — the tenth trip across the ice. Ak-pood-a-shah-o 
declared that the God of the Sea had his eye upon us. "Yes, and 
something more," added E-took-a-shoo. 



XV 

THE ARRIVAL OF THE NEPTUNE 

AFTER four years, we felt that a ship must surely 
-^~*- come. Twice the Museum had failed to effect 
our release by employing ships unsuited for the work. 
And now, certainly, the very best would be obtained 
and placed in command of Peary or Bartlett. We 
feared, however, that the Danmark, the relief-ship of 
1916, in winter quarters at Umanak, 120 miles south, 
would arrive and rescue the party before Peary or 
Bartlett could work his ship through the ice of Melville 
Bay. A letter from Captain Hanson of the Danmark 
requested that everything be ready for embarkation on 
August 1st, the date on which he expected to arrive. 

Our well-worn boxes and many-times-handled skins 
were now packed for the third time, a work generally 
done on days unfavorable for photographing, bird and 
egg-collecting, walrus, narwhal, and seal-hunting. The 
very important work of meat-getting must go on and 
take precedence of all other duties. There was always 
the possibility of the loss of the ship or a failure to pene- 
trate the immense ice-fields to the south; consequently 
another year of enforced stay in the Arctic. 

My journal for the months of May, June, and July 
gives a picture of our activities: 



1917] THE ARRIVAL OF THE NEPTUNE 307 

Friday, May 25th. — We reached Etah at one o'clock. Our dogs 
were tired with wallowing through deep snow. Inside of Littleton 
Island open water compelled us to take the ice-foot; at one place 
it was so narrow that, to handle one sledge, three men were necessary. 

East of Sunrise Point a seal was seen on the ice. Knowing that 
there must be but little meat at Etah, we tried for it, but lost it. 

Jot had just gotten to bed when we arrived. He was soon up, 
however, and had coffee and musk-ox meat ready. He and his 
party had been in from EUesmere Land only twenty-four hours. 
They bring some good specimens, among which are two small musk- 
ox calves, a six-legged musk-ox; and a baby bearded seal. Only one 
bear to their credit, but musk-ox galore. Their sledges were piled 
high with skins and meat. 

Saturday, May 26th. — Jot, Oo-dee, and Ah-now-ka left to-day for 
Ka-mowitz seal-hunting. 

Am busy developing 120 negatives. The water is so dirty that 
I am about discouraged. Think of sending Eskimos to the lake 
for a fresh supply. 

Cloudy weather prevents me from obtaining a good double alti- 
tude for correction of chronometers. Captain Comer is very busy 
with his tides, therefore I take all meteorological work off his hands. 
My time is more than full now. Every minute counts from now up 
to the arrival of the ship. 

Sunday, May 27th. — The warmest (twenty-eight degrees above) 
and best day which we have had for some time. I developed a few 
pictures but give it up for lack of good water. 

The Eskimos are busy with their bear skins and catching little 
auks which can be heard chattering at the cliffs. 

Ice conditions are very much different from last year. From 
our door not a particle of open water can be seen. 

Thursday, May 31st. — Have been on the jump all day, as I shall 
be until the ship comes. Drove twice to the point for coal, wood, 
water, tins, and crated demijohns. Our coal is about gone, there- 
fore I am continually picking up all the wood which I can find. 

Water is now trickling down over the rocks at the falls. Have 
tins under every trickle and hope to keep us supplied. Have spent 
much of my time boiling and filtering water for developing 150 
negatives. 

Have had Wee-we clean our Hamburg machine, which Jot put 
aside some months ago, with the result that we are enjoying some 
excellent musk-ox Hamburg steak. 

The wind has played havoc with E-took-a-shoo's tupik. It is 
flat, and he and his wife are in our cellar for the night. 



308 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [June 

At the head of the fiord it looks like a smother. A heavy bank of 
fog seems to be rolling down from the ice-cap. As it reaches the 
hills the wind tears it apart and rolls it into large cumulous clouds 
which go flying past the house into the southwest. 

Saturday, June 2d. — Doing tidal work and trying hard to keep 
awake, having omitted one night's sleep. Wind is subsiding and 
head of fiord clear. Good weather promised. 

Dirty Face having pups. Thinking it was about time, I built her 
a house yesterday. Two of the pups were apparently lifeless; I 
thought they were dead or would soon be. To my surprise, upon 
going into Ah-ne-nah's tupik at two o'clock, I found one suspended 
over the stove in a handkerchief, uttering good, healthy, contented 
grunts, the other being similarly treated in Al-nay-ah's tupik. 

Ak-pal-e-soo-ah-suk tells me that some years ago there was a 
pup hanging above the Eskimo lamp, and it fell into the cooking- 
pot! I presume they left it right there. 

Have developed, fixed, and filed away thirty-two negatives to- 
day. This means considerable walking, as I carry them all out to 
a pool in the harbor ice. At midnight I begin my hourly tidal 
observations. 

More pups born to-day. Have now three bitches with pups — 
sixteen in all, I think. It keeps me busy providing shelters, grass, 
food, and water in addition to attending my own team of eight, 
including one dog with rabies which I must chloroform at once 
before he breaks loose and bites every dog in the village. 

Sunday, June 3d.. — At 5.30 this morning Jot, Samik, and Go-dee 
came in from the north, having secured about sixteen seals, and, 
what was of much more interest to me, the eggs of the gyrfalcon. 
This is our second set and an excellent addition to our collection. 

At point this side of Rensselaer Harbor they met Sipsoo and 
In-you-gee-to, the last of Rasmussen's supporting parties, returning 
from Fort Conger, where they bad been hunting musk-oxen. Among 
other relics, souvenirs, and things of interest, he had my record left 
there in June, 1909, with Ekblaw's addition left in 1915. 

Jot had a thrilling experience and possibly a narrow escape with 
his life. When walking along the ice-foot he fell into a crack up to 
his armpits; he held for some time, but finally dropped ten feet or 
so into water up to his waist. There was no possible escape without 
help, and Oo-dee had gone on. With the rising tide he would drown, 
if he did not perish from cold long before that. To saj' that he 
yelled would not half express the noise which he made. But finally 
it was effective. Samik heard him and thought he was back in the 
hills somewhere. When the boys finally found him they were unable 




IT WAS HARD TO BID THEM GOOD-BY 




'^^^'i' 'f 'f4j^M 



A REAL DOG 



1917] THE ARRIVAL OF THE NEPTUNE 309 

to pull liim up because of his weight, augmented considerably by 
his saturated clothes. They fastened the line and he worked him- 
self up with their help. 

Monday, June 18th. — Immediately after breakfast Jot and I got 
away for Littleton and Eider Duck Island in our kayaks, the Eski- 
mos following in the sailing dory, fifteen of them. Arriving at the 
island dead low water presented an inaccessible wall of ice, the ice- 
foot, or collar, as sometimes called. We all camped in Beebe Cache 
Cove on Littleton Island. While the boys rowed to Polaris winter 
quarters after our tent, I crossed the island in search of eggs, of 
which I found only two. 

On the high water we crossed to Eider Duck Island. The ducks 
were about half through laying, I should judge, as there were in 
the majority of nests two eggs only. Jot and I together collected 
325. 

Three nests of the brant (Branta hernicla glaucogastra) were found, 
two of the nests containing four eggs, and one with six. I also found 
one good set of glaucous gull's {Larus hyperboreus) eggs, while two 
of the Eskimos brought me two sets of two each. 

It was raining, strange to say, during all the time we were on 
the island. With one tent for seventeen people and with no sleep- 
ing-bag, I decided to row home while wind, weather, and tide were 
fair. Reached Etah in three hours. Walked a couple of miles after 
my dog-team and drove back for the eggs. Got to bed at seven 
o'clock, twenty-three hours up. 

Saturday, June 23d. — With four of the Eskimos I rowed to the 
Crystal Palace Cliffs after a load of meat. Returning, we called at 
Cape Kendrick for eggs of guillemot (Cepphus mandti), of which 
we secured sixteen. 

Exposed nine plates to show breeding locality, and also character- 
istics of the ice-foot, which seem to be so httle understood by 
geologists. 

My big white dog slipped his harness yesterday and killed a small 
pup belonging to his aunt, Whitey. The dispute as to the owner- 
ship of the child was on when I arrived on the scene with a club. 
The culprit has had his head and tail down for several hours, wonder- 
ing wherein it is a criminal offense to eat good, tender, juicy meat. 

Wednesday, June 27th to Thursday, July 5th. — A wet trip from 
start to finish, but with good results. 

Seven of us left Etah on the 27th, four in sailing-dory and three 
in kayaks, for a trip south, with the expectation of getting eggs at 
Sutherland Island and hopes of kilUng walrus at Sulwuddy for our 
hungry dogs. 



310 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [July' 

Passed around Cape Alexander unseen by the Devil League of the 
Arctic regions. On the south side I secured three clutches of eggs 
of the glaucous gull. 

At the island (Sutherland) we found hundreds of eider ducks on 
and ofif their nests, and also noted nineteen brant flying back and 
forth. Within a very short time we collected about a thousand 
eggs, including eleven of the brant. All nests containing four and 
over I left untouched, knowing that at this date they were too much 
incubated to be relished. 

It began to rain when we were on the island, and continued inter- 
mittently for the next six days. 

When in camp at Sulwuddy the boys hinted that they would 
like to go to Nerky to see the Eskimos, which I decided to do as 
soon as weather would permit. 

Some of the party spent their time digging about the old igloos 
for ethnological specimens, while the others hunted for seals, of which 
Arklio shot two. 

Rowing along shore to Nerky, we noted an unusually large num- 
ber of hare so close to the ice-foot that we shot repeatedly from 
the boat, getting three. Drift ice west of Nerky caused us to de- 
viate considerably from our course. Finally, we worked in toward 
the settlement without being heard or seen by the Eskimos. Enter- 
ing a fine big tupik, with some difficulty I at last recognized the 
sleeping man and woman as Kood-look-to and Ah-nay-doo-a. It 
took them some time to realize who I was and how I got there. 
Within a few minutes all in the village were up and out. 

There were five tupiks in all — Kood-look-to and wife; Ah-we- 
gee-a and wife; Xla-shing-wa and wife; Ah-pellah and wife; and 
In-you-ta with bachelor apartments, one of my old igloo linings. 
Toi-tee-a and wife, who left Etah a few days ahead of us by way of 
the ice-cap, were blocked here by open water. As he could reach 
his home only with considerable difficulty, I offered him our boat, 
in which the Eskimos could row him to Ig-loo-da-houny. They 
started at once, returning the night of the 30th, working slowly 
through a large field of drift ice. 

On July 1st we left for home, accompanied by Kood-look-to, 
Kla-shing-wa, In-you-ta, and Ah-pellah, the last named intending to 
go only as far as Peteravik, the others to Sutherland Island for eggs. 

Some five miles west of Cape Chalon, E-took-a-shoo harpooned a 
young ook-jook (bearded seal). Walrus were seen several times, 
one of which Kood-look-to tried to harpoon but failed, attempting 
to throw at too great a distance. Just off Sulwuddy a single one 
came to the surface, which E-took-a-shoo harpooned very prettily. 



1917] THE ARRIVAL OF THE NEPTUNE 311 

After cutting up both seal and walrus, five of the men decided to 
continue on to Sutherland Island and to Etah before the wind 
should prevent. The next morning we joined them at the island, 
where we found them shooting ducks and collecting eggs. Kla- 
shing-wa had six eggs of the brant for me. 

The night of the 2d was very windy, with heavy surf, so much 
so, in fact, that I worried considerably over the safety of our boat 
moored at bow and stern. A heavy swell prevented our attempting 
to start until 6 p.m. on the 3d, and then not without some appre- 
hension as regards the men in kayaks. They came along nicely, 
however, riding like ducks. 

After rounding the cape we encountered a large herd of walrus, 
which disappeared for some time, reappearing well to the west of 
us. Soon a single one was seen. Oo-dee was persuaded to make 
his first attempt, which I watched with interest. E-took-a-shoo ac- 
companied him, encouraging and cheering him on. No sooner had 
the iron left Oo-dee's hand when E-took-a-shoo threw, both getting 
fast. Arklio gave him the finishing stroke with his .35 Winchester. 

What was apparently a difficult piece of work was easily and 
quickly accomplished by ten of us in a very few minutes. An 
Eskimo tackle was used in drawing him out of the water on to the 
ice-foot, where he was cut up and thrown into the dory. 

Crossing now to the Crystal Palace Cliffs, we were fortunate in 
harpooning two others. Here I was tempted to camp. We were 
wet through, tired, and hungry. I knew, however, that Captain 
Comer was anxious to get away on his digging trip; therefore we 
pulled on to Etah, another six miles, with dory down to the gun- 
wale. 

Noo-ka-ping-wa met us at the edge of the ice with dog-team, 
informing us that all others were up the fiord after dovekies. 
Working in a drizzling rain, we finally succeeded in getting every- 
thing to the house over the broken ice. 

To our surprise, we learned that it was the 4th of July. Jot 
went to bed, but I remained up thirty-six hours in order to be regular 
in the future. 

This evening we fired a salute with our rifles in honor of the day. 

Tuesday, July 10th. — Clearing up at last. Shall get away for 
Littleton Island and Now-yard-ee if weather permits, later in the 
day. 

Saturday, July 28th. — From now on it is watch the south contin- 
ually. Captain Hanson informed me that he would be here August 
1st. Everything is packed and ready to go at any moment — over 
200 boxes in all. 



312 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [July 

Sunday, July 29th. — Walked the length of the fiord to-day along 
the top of the cliff, to determine height. The first elevation east of 
house is 1,100 feet, the last at head of fiord I found to be 1,350 feet. 
The terminal moraine back of the house is 350 feet high. 

Heavy wind from the south'ard, with whitecaps in the south. 

After dinner I climbed half-way to top of Thermometer Hill to 
get photos of solifluction, 

In-ah-loo has started for Now-yard-ee, a walk of twenty-five miles, 
to get an old stone lamp for me. 

The 31st arrived. On the morrow Captain Hanson and the 
Danish ship Danmark were expected. All eyes were turned toward 
the south, each one hoping to be the first to descry the black trail 
of telltale smoke. Everything was ready. The boxes were at the 
edge of the bank, easily accessible for the boats. 

One more moving picture of our waterfall, I thought, and over 
I went to secure it. When busily engaged in operating the ma- 
chine^ old In-ah-loo forded the river, and, stopping near me, in- 
quired, "Has any one seen the ship.'*" 

"Not yet," I replied, and without looking out to sea, continued 
my work. 

She passed on into her tupik, wondering, possibly, if her eyes were 
deceiving her; for there was the ship plainly visible far off in the 
track of the sun, bucking a hard sea and wind. 

Within a few seconds this fact was startlingly evidenced by a 
concerted yell from the excited natives. " Oo-me-ark-suah! Oo-me- 
ark-suah!" ("Big ship! Big ship!") echoed throughout the settle- 
ment. 

With two masts only, and these wide apart, we thought at first 
that she must be the S.S. Roosevelt, her rig having been lately changed 
to fit her as a wrecker. 

Steaming northward, she passed from our view behind the harbor 
hills. While impatiently awaiting her reappearance we were puz- 
zled as to the import of the long-drawn wailing shriek of the siren 
whistle. A salute.'* A stranger and wanting a pilot? Or had she 
struck on one of the numerous ledges bordering the entrance of the 
fiord.'* Jumping into the punt, I was Soon at the point and directly 
under the bows of the big gray ship as she steamed into view. In- 
stantly all resemblance to Peary's ship, the Roosevelt, disappeared. 
Old, worn, and battered, and painted a dark battleship gray. On 
her bow was the name — Neptune. Although well acquainted with 
this veteran of Arctic work, I was deceived as to her identity by the 
change in her general appearance, brought about by the removal of 
her mainmast since our departure from home. 




E-TOOK-A-SHOO LISTENING AT THE BREATHING-HOLE OF A SEAL 







?«•% 





Jm 



TRACKS OF THE POIAB BEAR 



1917] THE ARRIVAL OF THE NEPTUNE 313 

A ringing command from her bridge sounded very familiar. 

"Is that you. Bob?" I yelled. 

"Of course! Who in hell do you think it is.'*" was the charac- 
teristic reply. 

On the quarter-deck I was introduced to a Mr. Burbank, a friend 
of Captain Bartlett's from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and Dr. G. S. 
Knowlton, of New York, the surgeon of the relief expedition. 

"How's the war.f*" was my first question. 

"The war is still on. America has joined the Allies." 

"Who is President of the United States.''" 

"Wilson." 

These bits of information were extremely interesting in view of 
the fact that the Etah argumentative society of four members, which 
held its meetings daily at 8 p.m., over a cup of tea and biscuit, had 
been divided (Comer, Hovey, and myself holding one view, and Jot 
the contrary) over the results of the world struggle. That the Ger- 
mans were not in Paris we strenuously endeavored to demonstrate 
at every convocation, but without success. That there were Ger- 
mans in sufficient numbers in our country to assume control at the 
orders of Kaiser William we were strangely reluctant to admit. 
But upon one point we all happily agreed. Wilson could not pos- 
sibly be re-elected. He was eliminated without opposition. 

Home! Why, it was like going to another world ! Happy? Yes 
—no! Naturally we wanted to see friends and relatives, but the 
Great Northland gets a relentless grip on a man. Its drift ice, its 
towering white bergs, its glittering domes, its receding ice-cap, the 
stretching trail, the galloping dogs, the happy, laughing, contented 
Eskimos — all attracting, appealing, and ever calling. 

We reluctantly bade good-by to those faithful helpers 
who had made our work possible. We had been happy 
together. They had been faithful to the end. E-took- 
a-shoo, Arklio, and Ak-pood-a-shah-o — I can never for- 
get them. There was not a smile on the face of a single 
Eskimo as they slowly descended the rope ladder to 
the boat which I had given them. We threw down the 
painter. It remained where it fell. Not an oar was 
lifted. The boat drifted toward the shore and toward 
Borup Lodge, now their home. We waved our hats 
until the black dots merged into the distance. And 



314 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 

long after they were gone I watched the white dots on 
the bank to the left of the house — my dogs. We had 
traveled far together. Together we had enjoyed those 
long bright days far beyond the snow-capped peaks of 
Ellesmere Land; and together we had faced heavy 
wind and cutting drifts. I couldn't leave them all. 
Three were with me, bound for the land to the south 
where there are no heavy loads and long trails. Their 
pulling days were over. 

Extensive fields of ice on the southern horizon caused 
Captain Bartlett to attempt a passage south by follow- 
ing closely the Ellesmere Land coast. At Clarence 
Head he encountered a solid mass; not a lead could be 
seen. We steamed eastward toward the Cary Islands, 
and remained here locked in the ice for three days. 
Two big iron plates had already been ripped completely 
off the bows of the ship, leaving bolt-holes through which 
the water was pouring incessantly. All steam-pumps 
were working to full capacity and had been doing so for 
days. A well was constructed in the forehold out of 
heavy planks from which, in case of emergency, water 
could be dipped with barrels and buckets. 

There was no opening to the south'ard, so the Neptune 
steamed back toward the southwestern shores of North- 
umberland and Hakluyt Islands. I had hoped, since 
my advent into the Arctic, to land upon the latter. 
Discovered and named by William Bafl&n more than 
300 years ago, it was the center of controversy for years, 
and was finally erased from the map, together mth all 
of Baffin Bay, because the account was "vague, indef- 
inite, and unsatisfactory, and . . . most unlike the writ- 
ing of William Baffin." 

Two hundred years passed away before another ship 



1917] THE ARRIVAL OF THE NEPTUNE 315 

sailed along those shores, rediscovering Hakluyt Isle 
and confirming Baffin's account in every particular. 

Captain Bob, Mr. Burbank, and I landed upon this 
historic island, which we found dotted with evidence of 
former inhabitants — old stone igloos, tupik rings, store- 
houses, and stone fox-traps. Little auks, or dovekies 
{Alle alle), were swarming along the talus slopes on the 
south side, while Brunnich's murres (Uria lomvia lomvia) 
and Puffin's (Fratercula arctica naumanni) occupied the 
striking vertical cliffs of the north. 

From the heights we saw it was impossible to proceed 
west. The heavy pack extended as far as the eye could 
reach. Possibly a passage south was offered by en- 
circling the islands and hugging the land as far as Cape 
York. This Captain Bartlett decided to do. At Oo- 
loo-set, on the western end of Northumberland Island, 
the natives visited the ship, smiling and sweaty with 
their hurried exertions in working their kayaks through 
the rapidly moving drift ice. 

At the first opportunity we moved south to Cape 
Parry, where open water enabled the ship to reach 
within twenty-five miles of Cape York. A call at the 
now deserted village of Akbat recalled pleasant memories 
of my visit two years before. The once pleasant, well- 
warmed, and well-lighted igloo of my host was now but 
a chaotic mass of rocks, wet grass, and melting ice. 
Six rusty guns testified to their uselessness after the 
ammunition had been expended. 

Bright weather on the 12th tempted Bartlett to steer 
boldly south into the pack in the hopes of finding a 
favorable lead, a somewhat dangerous procedure for a 
vessel of small power, but perfectly safe for the old 
Nej)tune, 

21 



316 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 

Sixty years before, almost to a day, the little Fox, 
sent out by Lady Franklin in search of her husband. 
Sir John, became tightly locked in the ice of Melville 
Bay. For 252 days she was held a prisoner, drifting 
1,194 miles before she was released. 

A few hours of offensive work with very little marked 
progress justified our captain in retreating to the lee of 
Cape York to await a favorable change of wind. Seven 
kayaks were soon alongside and the occupants were 
made extremely happy with the gift of apples, bananas, 
tea, biscuit, and tobacco. 

At noon of August 13th the Neptune swung on her 
heel for another effort to penetrate the ice-field which 
lay between us and home. At five she was in open 
water and going rapidly southward. It was with a 
strange feeling of almost homesickness that I watched 
that northern land dropping below the horizon. Savage 
at times, and wild and desolate, yet altogether kind to us 
from the Southland, it holds a warm place in my heart. 

Our last letter received from Ekblaw, who left North 
Star Bay in December, 1916, announced his safe arrival 
at Upernavik; however, his feet were so badly frosted 
that he might possibly be compelled to await our ar- 
rival. If possible, he would go on to Godhavn. 

We had passed Upernavik. Would he be at Godhavn, 
was the important question, as we steamed in by the 
old whaler's lookout and rounded the rocky point in- 
closing the snug little harbor of Godhavn, the capital of 
the Inspectorate of North Greenland. 

Hardly had our anchor touched the bottom before 
Governor Ohlsen and Inspector Lindow stepped over 
the rail to bid us welcome. Mr. Ekblaw was here, they 
informed us, at the home of a Mr. Porsild, a scientist 



1917] THE ARRIVAL OF THE NEPTUNE 317 

engaged in government work. We felt that a load had 
been lifted from our shoulders. It would not be neces- 
sary to return to Upernavik in search of the last member 
of our expedition. He appeared within a few hours, 
looking hale and hearty and entirely recovered from the 
effects of his Melville Bay trip. 

Our sojourn at this port was most enjoyable, due to 
the kindness and the courtesy and the hospitality of 
Inspector Lindow, Governor Ohlsen, and Mr. Porsild. 
Everything was done to cause us to regret the briefness 
of our stay. A visit to the home of Mr. Porsild caused 
us to gape in astonishment at its appointments — a 
laboratory, a large library, a dining-room, a music- 
room. With a happy, contented wife and a charming 
daughter, he had found the key to happiness' — a key 
which he would never give up. Henceforth this would 
be his homeland. 

Rich in its association, that little town of Lievely, 
so called by the English and Scotch whalemen, has a 
long and interesting story of its own. Far the most 
interesting relic of the past is the whaler's lookout built 
in 1782 of the jawbones of a whale. Here hardy seamen 
have registered their names during the long hours of 
the watch. Dates were found as far back as 1811. 
The old rusty cannon still stands on guard, ready to 
announce to the fleet anchored in the bight south the 
sighting of a whale or the rupture of the pack. Its 
red mouth has long been silent. The buildings at the 
foot of the hill have rotted away. The once proud fleet 
no longer exists. 

There in that harbor practically all American expedi- 
tions have anchored. The cairn outlined against the 
sky on the eastern heights at an altitude of 2,400 feet 



318 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 

was constructed by Peary when on his way northward 
in 1891. And here "a little man in a ragged flannel 
shirt" (Doctor Kane) steered his battered boat out to 
meet the relief -ship. 

Within a few yards distant from our anchored ship 
lay upon the rocks the historic and dismantled FoXy the 
first to solve the problem of the fate of Sir John Franklin 
and his 129 men. She steamed proudly into the harbor 
sixty years ago, with colors flying, under the command 
of the gallant McClintock. Crippled with old age, bat- 
tered and worn and abandoned, she was towed into the 
harbor and to her last resting-place a year before our 
arrival. Her service had been long and honorable. 
She deserved a better fate. 

A striking dissimilarity exists between the natives of 
Godhavn and those of the far North. Inferior in general 
appearance, inferior physically, they are living witnesses, 
in spite of the excellent care of the Danish authorities, 
to the inevitable and regrettable result of contact with 
the white races. For two hundred years they have been 
associated with the Danes. The body has lengthened, 
the face has narrowed, the hair and eyes have lightened, 
the ruddy cheeks are gone. All are white, drawn, and 
apparently tubercular. Their igloos and tents have been 
abandoned for small, tight wooden shacks, every crack 
and crevice of which is kept religiously closed in order 
to conserve the hard-earned supply of peat gathered from 
the hills for consumption in their small iron stoves. 

My observations extend only to this one settlement. 
I understood from Inspector Lindow that a much hardier 
and more energetic people are found on the Whale Fish 
Islands, a few miles to the south. 

Our trip south began at 1.30 on August 17th, and was 





\ 


i#' 


r»M 


Wm 


^^^2 


^iK--.. -J 


■011 



THE OLD WHALER S LOOKOUT AT DISCO 




THE END OF THE FAMOUS FOX 



1917] THE ARRIVAL OF THE NEPTUNE 319 

without notable incident. Heavy weather and thick 
fog consigned most of us to our bunks and Bartlett to 
the bridge. The old Neptune pounded her way south 
with a bandage drawn tightly across her nose to prevent 
her from imbibing too much water. She angrily tossed 
this aside, throwing the responsibility upon Mr. Cross- 
man, our chief engineer, to keep her free of that steady 
stream running aft to the pumps. 

A dark line on the starboard bow on the morning of 
the 22d meant much to us who had been away so long. 
It was our first view of the Southland — Labrador. Again 
I saw those deep fiords with the almost numberless 
islands and inside runs through which I had cruised in 
1910-11-12. A simple people there, but honest, frank, 
delightful. 

The hills came up rapidly out of the sea, domes of 
gray rocks molded by the oncoming glaciers of seons 
ago, now sterile and forbidding, serving as bulwarks 
against the onslaught of southerly drifting ice-fields. We 
eagerly scanned the inner reaches of the bays for signs 
of vegetation. How we longed to see trees again! 

A few hours at Turnavik, the Bartlett fishing-station, 
and then on again toward the south, sending our de- 
spatches by wireless to the Makkovik Station as we 
passed. 

We encountered our first real touch with the world's 
great war on the morning of the 24th. As we approached 
Sydney Harbor, a power-boat shot out from the eastern 
shore. We were boarded, inspected, and given per- 
mission to proceed through the gates of the long line 
of chained pontoons, our entrance from the quietness 
and peace of the North into the turmoil and bloodshed 
of warring nations. 



XVI 

CONCLUSION 

MATERIALISTS are inclined to doubt the sanity 
of men who head their ships toward the ends of 
the earth in search of new lands and new truths. Only 
ice and snow are visualized; and this is so remote that 
it is deemed of but little value in its contribution toward 
the wealth of the world. 

"What are you going to do with the land when you 
find it.f^ Can you raise wheat on it.^^" were the practical 
questions put to me by a Wall Street banker. 

To him the obliteration of a vast unknown space by 
the substitution of well-defined coast-lines of a great con- 
tinent was a useless expenditure of time and money, unless 
that land could be inhabited and its resources utilized. 
Knowledge of the fact that land exists there, supplanting 
ignorance and conjecture; its physical characteristics, 
which are but another chapter in the history of our globe; 
its birds, many of which pass our doors in spring and 
fall; its animals, existing where life seems impossible; its 
bright-colored flowers blossoming at the very edge of 
eternal snows; its climate, exerting such a vast influence 
upon southern countries — all these considerations are 
tossed aside as irrelevant; they cannot be made to return 
dividends — that is, in the Wall Street sense. 



CONCLUSION 321 

Space will not permit a review of what the Northern 
traveler has contributed, not only to the various 
branches of science, but to our actual welfare. Man 
has been content to leave home, to live in savage 
places, to plod along through deep snows, to land 
upon primeval shores, to suffer privations and dis- 
comforts, and all this in order to add his mite to 
the sum of the world knowledge. And man will con- 
tinue to do these foolish things and to undergo these 
useless hardships until the sum of human knowledge is 
complete. 

We hope that our four years in the North have added 
something to the world's storehouse which may be of 
interest and value, geographically and scientifically. 
Summed up, the results stand as follows: 

1. The disproving of the existence of Crocker Land 
as placed upon our latest maps. 

2. Evidence of the existence of new land far to the 
west of our last camp on the Polar Sea. 

3. A survey of a previously unexplored stretch of 
coast-line on the northwest shores of Axel Heiberg 
Island. 

4. Exploration and survey of the Greely Fiord. 

5. The first attainment of King Christian Island, a 
land seen in 1900 by the Sverdrup Expedition. 

6. A survey of the northern, eastern, and part of the 
southern shores of North Cornwall. 

7. A survey of the eastern coast of Ellesmere Land 
from Cape Sabine to Clarence Head. 

8. The discovery of nine new islands. 

9. A resurvey of the North Greenland coast from 
McCoiinick Bay to Rensselaer Harbor. 

10. A detailed survey with soundings of Foulke Fiord. 



322 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

11. Discovery of coal in Bay Fiord and along the 
southern shores of Axel Hieberg Island. 

12. Recovery of three records of Dr. Elisha Kent Kane 
of the Second Grinnell Expedition of 1853-55. 

13. Recovery of two records and section of silk flag 
of Rear-Admiral Peary. 

14. Recovery of two records of Sir George Nares of 
the British North Pole Expedition of 1875-76. 

15. Recovery of mail (three personal letters) left by 
Sir Allen Young at Cape Isabella in 1876 for the British 
Expedition under the command of Nares. 

16. The securing of two sets of the very valuable eggs 
of the knot {Tringa canutus). 

17. A three months* series of tidal observations at 
Etah, North Greenland. 

18. A compilation of 3,000 words of the Smith Sound 
Eskimo language. 

19. Five thousand five hundred photographs. 

20. Ten thousand feet of motion-picture film. 

21. Extensive work in geology, botany, ornithology, 
meteorology, and ethnology. 



APPENDIX I 

THE SUMMER AT NORTH STAR BAY 
W. ELMER EKBLAW 

Whenever I consider in retrospect the summer that 
Tanquary and I lived at North Star Bay, over one hun- 
dred and thirty miles from Etah, our headquarters vil- 
lage, I can laugh at the unpleasantness and worry and 
hunger that made it drag interminably for us; but at 
the time our situation was so serious, and continually 
threatened to become so precarious, that it was anything 
but humorous. 

Prevented by frozen toes from completing the dash 
for Crocker Land upon which I had started with Mac- 
Millan and Green, I loafed about the house at Etah 
throughout the month of April, waiting for my toes to 
heal. Restless from confinement within doors, and 
eager to be out doing something, I could hardly await 
the doctor's permission to tramp around. During my 
imprisonment in the house, Peter Freuchen, the Danish 
factor at the trading-station at North Star Bay, had been 
our guest, and when the time came for him to think of 
returning to his station he urgently invited Tanquary 
and me to accompany him and to stay with him through 
the summer as his guest, while we engaged in our various 



324 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

scientific studies of the rather large area about North 
Star Bay. 

Though we were somewhat reluctant to leave Etah, 
the invitation was so urgently repeated, and the oppor- 
tunity for valuable scientific work seemed so good that 
we finally decided to go. We were earnestly supported 
in our decision by Doctor Hunt, whom Mac had left 
in charge of the station and who insisted that it was 
our duty to go. 

As soon as we had made our decision we began assem- 
bling the equipment and supplies that we expected to 
need for the summer's work. Because of Peter Freu- 
chen's insistent assurances that he had ample food for 
all our needs, and his urgent request that we refrain 
from carrying with us anything but a little fruit and 
some other tinned goods, we made no attempt to take 
any substantial supplies with us. 

The first week in May we left Etah for North Star 
Bay, part of a long train of eleven dog-sledges. At that 
time the midnight sun was two weeks old and travel 
was easy and pleasant. Just south of the Cape Alex- 
ander glacier our party met another party of thirteen 
sledges, northward-bound. This was probably one of 
the largest groups of dogs, sledges, and Eskimos ever 
gathered together at one time in that part of Eskimo- 
land. For almost half a day we stayed there, boiling 
coffee, walrus meat, seal meat, and whatever else with 
which the sledges were provided. Everybody was hap- 
py, everybody loath to go on, and only when the dogs 
became so unruly that a general mix-up threatened did 
the assembly break up. 

We stopj>ed a few days at Nerkre, where most of the 
tribe was congregated for the annual spring walrus-hunt. 



APPENDIX I 325 

Thence we went by the outside route around Cape 
Parry, stopping for a day at Keatek; at Keatek the first 
pair of snow-buntings appeared from the Southland, the 
usual signal for the Eskimos to move from their stone 
igloos to their sealskin tents, or tupiks. The ice was 
generally good, and we made rapid progress to Umanak, 
the Eskimo name for North Star Bay. Except for a 
violent blizzard in which we became lost crossing Whale 
Sound, and which forced us to build snow houses near 
Cape Parry to shelter us trom the storm, our further way 
to North Star Bay was without incident. 

Just as we came driving up to the trading-station 
from the north, Sechmann Rossbach, the catechist, or 
teacher, with his family and a number of other Eskimos, 
came driving in from the south, having come from Danish 
Greenland. We little anticipated then that before the 
summer was over we should have to thank Sechmann 
for keeping us from starvation. 

Peter Freuchen established us in his own house and 
we made ourselves as comfortable as limited facilities 
permitted. A little misgiving entered our minds when 
Peter told us that during his absence the Eskimos had 
eaten nearly all his provisions and had made way with 
all his coffee, sugar, and tinned goods, but we felt that 
we could readily live on meat and blubber if need be, 
never dreaming that in a land where game was relatively 
so abundant we should ever lack meat. 

The days passed pleasantly enough. Hunting was 
apparently poor, for meat was difficult to get from the 
Eskimos. We made serious inroads upon the few sup- 
plies we had brought from Etah; though we wasted 
nothing, we made no particular effort to save anything, 
relying upon Peter's assurance that just as soon as the 



326 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

summer opened an abundance of meat would be forth- 
coming. By the 1st of June, not quite a month after 
our arrival, most of our tinned supplies were gone, even 
though we had despatched several sledges to Etah after 
more. 

An attack of snow-blindness early in the summer 
taught me a valuable lesson. It was in the last week 
of May that I went out for a seal-hunt with Mene Wal- 
lace, the New York Eskimo celebrity. For over thirty 
hours we hunted steadily. I used no sun glasses, for I 
felt no fear of snow-blindness; but throughout the hunt 
I taxed my eyes to the utmost, searching the ice for the 
sleeping seals with my big Leitz No. 10 field-glasses. 
When finally we made camp, at the head of Grenville 
Bay, instead of sleeping, we hunted ptarmigan, of 
which we found several flocks. After a luncheon of seal 
meat we started home. My eyes were heavy and tired, 
but I thought nothing of it until I was almost half-way 
home. Just after we had come out of Grenville Bay 
and turned up Wolstenholme Sound toward North Star 
Bay, I began to feel sharp pain in my eyes and my 
sight became blurred. The pain increased, and my eyes 
became so bloodshot that what little I could see looked 
red. 

We got into the station late in the afternoon. Soon 
afterward I went to bed. By midnight I was almost rav- 
ing mad with the pain, and I had to call Tanquary and 
Peter to help me. For nearly three days they dropped 
cocaine into my eyes at frequent intervals, and gave 
me occasional hypodermics of morphine; whenever the 
effect of the drugs waned the pain grew so excruciating 
that I became almost irrational. Never have I suffered 
such keen or intense agony. I felt sure I should never 



APPENDIX I 327 

regain my sight. I could not imagine how my eyes 
could ever be normal after such a paroxysm of torture. 
When finally the pain abated and I could begin to see 
again, I was about the most thankful mortal that had 
ever been in the Northland. In a few days my eyes 
were clear and apparently as strong as ever, but after 
that experience I never went without colored glasses 
while out sledging. 

Before my eyes had quite recovered, Peter suddenly 
decided that he would have to leave for a bear-hunt 
on Melville Bay and to get some supplies he had cached 
at Cape Seddon. This trip he had proposed, with the 
request that I accompany him, a month before, and all 
through May while I had expected every day to start 
he had found one reason or another to postpone going. 
Now when I was unable to get out, he abruptly an- 
nounced that he and two Eskimos would go at once. 

During his absence Tanquary and I had no little diffi- 
culty subsisting. Our supplies were gone, the Eskimos 
were short of meat, and we had no dogs to go out hunt- 
ing. Had not Mene helped us out by killing occasional 
seal for us at this time, we should repeatedly have been 
hard pressed for food. Finally Sechmann Rossbach 
asked us to share the mission station with him, and we 
accepted his invitation. A few days before Peter re- 
turned, we moved from, his house, taking our belongings 
with us. Sechmann's wife had arranged one of the 
largest rooms in the mission very cozily for us, and 
throughout the rest of our stay at North Star Bay, we 
were most comfortably situated. 

Peter returned from his bear-hunt about the middle 
of June. He stayed at his house but a few days, and 
then, on the plea that he would have to lay in a supply 



328 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

of eider eggs, went to Saunders Island, taking with him 
all of the few supplies left. Tanquary and I had long 
before realized that Peter's hospitality had come to an 
end and that we could depend no longer upon him for 
any assistance; Peter apparently meant well, but he 
shed responsibility as a seal sheds water. 

We were thus thrown upon Sechmann's bounty, and, 
though he was "only an Eskimo," he proved to be a 
gentleman and a true friend. He shared his every 
bit of food with us, hunted persistently every day that 
was fit; throughout the summer he was never sullen, 
discouraged, or angry. Many times we were without 
food in his house for days at a time, but his hospitality 
and kindness never changed. He measured up to a high 
standard as a man and a Christian. Many a white man 
would not have been so truly hospitable and generous. 

All summer long Tank and I worked assiduously at 
our sciences. The field was new, large, and deeply in- 
teresting. Had not the food problem bothered us con- 
tinually we should have enjoyed the season very much. 
Almost every day we were out on long tramps over the 
rough country back of the station or sledging to some 
place about the Sound, where we wished to study. 
Birds were numerous, the vegetation relatively luxuriant, 
and the geology varied. Tanquary found the region 
well worth the researches of an entomologist. 

But always the shortage of food worried us. Several 
times through the summer, when the weather prevented 
hunting, we could see starvation staring us in the face. 
As the summer advanced, the conditions grew worse 
and worse, and the situation more critical. We had to 
wait until relief came by boat, for sledging to Etah was 
impossible after the beginning of June. Our hope was 



APPENDIX I m 

pinned to a relief-ship, and we nearly wore out the field- 
glasses watching the horizon toward the mouth of the 
sound, where we ought first to see a ship. If either of us 
woke at night he went to the door to take a look. All 
the time we were hungry; I could cordially sympathize 
with Tanquary's remark one night as we crawled into 
our sleeping-bags, "These people that go in for high 
thinking and plain living don't meet my approval at all." 

The strain on our stomachs was hardly worse than 
the strain on our tempers. We were irritable and sensi- 
tive and sometimes quarrelsome. I remember well one 
day when Tanquary had sent me out on a wild-goose 
chase over boggy and rocky country to try to kill some 
eider duck. The duck were wont to come in close 
enough to land to be within gun-shot range, along a sand- 
bar upon which they fed at low water. I found when 
I got to the place that the tide had just begun to ebb. 
I came back more than a little indignant, and remarked 
that it was perfectly evident that not all people had the 
same conception of what constituted "low water." 
Tanquary resented the tone of voice with which I said 
it, and retorted in kind. One word led to another, with 
the result that we were hardly on speaking terms for a 
week. 

Hoover's "wheatless days" long ago began in the 
Arctic. Tanquary and I were without bread nearly all 
summer. We carefully conserved all our meager sup- 
plies. When first it became evident that we should 
face shortage of food, we took careful stock of what 
we had. Among the few things we had left was part 
of a small tin of prunes. We counted the prunes, and 
found that if relief reached us by August we could make 
the prunes last if we each ate four a day. 



330 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

Hence, every day when we came in hungry from 
our long tramps, we brewed tea, which we drank with- 
out sugar or milk — of which we had neither — and ate 
our four prunes. Tank always carefully gathered the 
seeds together and took them out to a big flat rock be- 
fore the house, where he cracked them and ate the ker- 
nels. He told me several times that he derived a lot 
of nourishment from them and that he expected them 
to keep him alive at least a week after I had succumbed. 
As it was, we had eaten our last prune almost two weeks 
before relief finally came. 

The only untoward event of the summer was a near- 
drowning in which I was the lone actor without any 
spectators. I was returning from Saunders Island the 
last day of June, over a route by which I had gone out 
quite safely only two days before. A warm sun and 
high tides had rotted the ice in the interval, so that 
on my return I had to pick my way most carefully 
among the pools of open water and thin ice. At one of 
the most treacherous reaches I thought I saw a long 
stretch of good going that lay between two icebergs 
about a hundred yards apart. I started across it, and 
had just about got to the middle when the whole busi- 
ness dropped into the water. It was but the shell of 
a drift, with all the ice underneath worn away by the 
tide sweeping between the bergs. 

My dogs and sledge and I dropped Into the slush; 
I hung on to the sledge, but I felt sure that it was only 
a question of time until the scene would be ended and 
the curtain dropped. The slush was too thick to get 
through. My king-dog, a big, shaggy, white fellow, 
with Newfoundland blood in his veins, did not give up, 
however, though the rest of the dogs in the team de- 



APPENDIX I 331 

spaired after a few efforts. The big white dog kept 
threshing away, and finally, with the little help I could 
give him, got to the edge of the pool, and, at last, I too. 
Fortunately the day was clear and sunshiny, and though 
my clothes were all soaked, I did not freeze on my way 
home to the station. 

One of the most interesting sights at North Star 
Bay was the station fur-storehouse. The summer Tank 
and I were there it was hung with about 3,000 blue-fox 
skins in bunches of fifty, graded according to color, and 
300 white in bunches of fifty, too. The collection of 
furs was beautiful. The soft, glossy, fluffy furs ready 
for market were wealth and luxury that a queen might 
have desired to add to her wardrobe. Yet the wealth 
of furs ceased to interest us long before the summer 
was over, for our chief thought was getting away. 

We had almost given up hope of relief that summer. 
We had worn a hole in the horizon looking so hard for 
a ship. Every day we wondered when we should again 
have enough to eat. The ice was so slow in going that 
we feared it was going to stay. Then on the 12th of 
August the long-awaited relief came. 

I had been back among the mountains seeking to 
assuage by hard work the ever-present pangs of hunger. 
My feet were so stone-bruised that I could not walk 
fast; yet when I came to the crest of the divide back of 
the station and saw first the Danish colors waving from 
the flagstaff, I knew that a ship of some kind had come, 
and tried my best to run. Finally I could look over the 
ridge into the little bay, and there I saw the George 
Borup, our motor-boat, lying at anchor. 

Fast as I could hobble down the mountain I hurried 
toward her. Doctor Hunt and Jot met me in a whale- 

22 



332 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

boat at the shore, and took me out to the motor-boat. 
Tanquary had already been partly filled up; but after 
I had eaten a can of pears he helped me to eat buckwheat 
cakes that Jot had started baking as soon as we got 
aboard. Jot swears to this day that between us we ate 
a hundred and that I took the lion's share. 

Though except for the near-starvation the summer 
at North Bay had been pleasant enough, never were two 
fellows more glad to get away from a place than Tan- 
quary and I were to get away from North Star Bay. We 
gave Sechmann all that could be spared from the motor- 
boat; though later, the following winter, we gave him 
generously of our stores and personal equipment when 
he came to Etah, we felt that we could never repay him 
for his kindness and hospitality. Then we packed our 
equipment, got it aboard the George Borwp, and, when 
Mac gave the signal to start, took our places in the 
boat without one regret that the summer was over and 
that we were to be back at headquarters once more. 



APPENDIX II 

ON UNKNOWN SHORES; THE TRAVERSE OF GRANT AND 
ELLESMERE LANDS 

W. ELMER EKBLAW 

Early in the fall of 1914, when MacMillan outlined 
the tentative plans for the work of our party for the 
season of 1915, he designated as the share for Tank and 
me the exploration of Ellesmere and Grant lands along 
the circuitous route from Etah to Cape Sabine; across 
Ellesmere Land from Beitstad Fjord to Bay Fjord; 
down Bay Fjord and Eureka Sound to the mouth of 
Greely Fjord; up Greely Fjord (to include the ex- 
ploration of all its tributary fjords) ; across Grant Land 
by way of Lake Hazen to Lady Franklin Bay; and thence 
home to Etah along the west coast of Greenland. 

The Greely Fjord — Lake Hazen portion of the route — 
constituted a most promising field for exploration and 
pioneer scientific investigation, a field of which long 
stretches had never been explored. The successful 
completion of this work would connect the exploration 
accomplished by Lockwood and Brainard of the Greely 
party, working from Lady Franklin Bay, with that done 
by Fosheim and Raanes of the Sverdrup expedition, 
working from Jones Sound, and leave unexplored, of all 



334 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

the coast of Ellesmere Land, only two small fjords 
opening out upon Fridtjof Nansen Sound. The route 
would be about 1,200 miles in length; with favorable 
sledging conditions and no accidents of consequence, 
the time required to complete the work should be about 
three months. 

Later in the winter, MacMillan changed the plans 
so that I should go alone with two Eskimo companions 
to Lake Hazen by the route originally proposed, while 
Tank would sledge up along the east coast of Ellesmere 
Land to meet me at Lake Hazen. For a month or so 
MacMillan considered having me stay with my Eskimos 
on the shores of Lake Hazen thi'ough the summer, to 
make an exhaustive investigation of the interior of 
Grant Land about the head of Greely Fjord and about 
the lake; but because he felt sure that a ship would 
come for us some time that summer he finally decided 
that such a course would not be best. As events after- 
ward shaped themselves with the freezing in of our relief- 
ship on the Greenland coast, I could have stayed there 
throughout the year, accomplished a whole season's 
exploration and research, and come back when the 
ice formed, without causing any worry, trouble, or 
delay. 

My preparations for the trip began early. Except 
that MacMillan outlined roughly the route that he 
wished me to follow and stated in general the purposes 
of my journey, he gave me only a few explicit instruc- 
tions; he left nearly all the details of the plans and 
preparations to my own discretion. He provided me 
the best equipment available, to that end placing at 
my disposal the resources of the expedition and turning 
over to me his own team of dogs, one of the best, if not 



APPENDIX II 335 

the best, in the Northland. Every member of our 
party assisted me in all possible ways. Jot made my 
sledge, lashed it together himself, and gave to it the 
thought and care he would have given if it had been he 
who was to use it. 

After much careful consideration of the various 
Eskimos available as companions for the whole way, 
I chose Esayoo to accompany me, one of Peary's former 
trusties, a sage old hunter upon whose judgment and 
loyalty I felt I could rely without any doubt or hesitancy, 
and E-took-a-shoo, whose courage and ability had been 
thoroughly tested. 

Esayoo was a middle-aged man who had not yet lost 
his strength and agility. He was thorough master of 
the technique of Arctic travel and possessed to a high 
degree the ability to find game, to pick his way through 
new and strange lands, and to derive from the dogs the 
maximum distance of travel without wearing them down. 

E-took-a-shoo was a young man, one of the strongest 
in the Smith Sound tribe. He was an expert hunter, 
especially of land animals, and a good dog-driver. He 
not only was the fastest builder of snow houses in the 
tribe, too, but he appreciated his superiority in the art 
and enjoyed exhibiting it. He was loyal, capable, and 
energetic, a splendid supplement to old Esayoo. 

On these two men I was sure I could depend to the 
utmost. They would both be loyal, both energetic, 
and both wise in the ways of the trail. Though Esayoo 
lacked the energy and dash of youth, he made up for 
them in the wisdom and judgment of years and experi- 
ence; though E-took-a-shoo lacked stability and the 
patience that comes with years, he compensated for them 
in willingness and strength. They were an ideal pair. 



336 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

As supporting parties to help us over the first parts 
of our route and to get us well started, I chose two of 
the older hunters, Oobloyah and Okpuddyshao, to go 
with us to the divide of Ellesmere Land; and two of the 
younger fellows, Arklio and Nukapingwa, to help us as 
far as conditions necessitated. Of these men I would 
as willingly have depended upon Oobloyah for rare 
good judgment and cordial loyalty as upon my best 
friend. In my opinion he is as fine a man, even though 
an Eskimo, as one can find anywhere among any people. 
The others were almost as good. 

Because my route was circuitous I should not come 
back over any part of my trail, so I could make no caches 
of supplies as I went along, to provide for my return. 
For a trip as long as mine would be I could not hope 
to carry enough provisions for the whole way. Hence 
I decided to reduce my supplies to a minimum and de- 
pend upon the country for the game necessary to keep 
us and our dogs in food. With plenty of ammunition 
and good rifles for every one of us, I felt sure that we 
could kill enough game if there were any. MacMillan 
also promised to have ready for us six caches on the 
Greenland coast against our return, should we be in 
need of food or other supplies. 

I set St. Patrick's Day as the time of my starting, for 
I am Irish enough to believe that an undertaking begun 
on that day is almost certain of success; but because of 
scarcity of dog food, I was delayed until March 24th. 
As is always the case when an expedition makes ready 
to leave, every one of the party was eager to be off, and 
every one at headquarters was even more eager to be 
rid of us. The confusion and congestion antecedent 
to departure are always annoying. 



APPENDIX II 337 

The weather was not propitious as we set out. The 
wind blew strong and cold at the house, and we could 
tell by the driving clouds overhead that almost a gale 
raged beyond Suniise Point. We decided, however, to 
make the attempt, and after bidding good-by to those 
left behind we slid our laden sledges down the bank 
to the ice, hitched our dogs, and dashed away. In an 
hour we were well by Sum-ise Point, but there we en- 
tered the rough ice that lay between Lyttleton Island 
and the mainland; in the teeth of a howling northwest 
blizzard we toiled laboriously for eight hours through 
the chaos of broken ice blocks, with snow partly filling 
the hollows between. 

Tired and worn, and wet with perspiration, and our 
fur clothes matted with frozen snow, we finally got to 
Cape Olsen, only eight or ten miles from Etah. In- 
stead of making camp, we chose to return to head- 
quarters, where we might dry out our clothes. We left 
our loads on the ice-foot and started back. With light 
sledges and with the wind behind us, we covered in less 
than two hours the distance it had taken us all day to 
make going out. 

The 25th was a stormy day, and though we essayed 
an attempt to leave, we found a driving blizzard swirling 
beyond Sunrise Point and came back to Etah. On the 
26th the storm had not abated; but about six o'clock in 
the evening Oobloyah came to me to state that he 
thought the storm had spent itself and that it would 
be wise to set out. We gave our dogs the last of the 
walrus meat procurable at headquarters, and again 
dashed away. 

In a short time we reached the supplies and equij> 
ment that we had cached, loaded them on our sledges, 



338 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

and took the trail again. The ice was still rough, but 
with better weather we were able to pick our way more 
easily, so that we made much better time. The mid- 
night sun had not yet risen above the horizon, but at 
two o'clock, when we made camp on the rocks at the 
foot of the cliffs of C. Hatherton, the clouds above us 
were rosy with the rays of sunrise. Since the tempera- 
ture was thirty-six below zero as we boiled our meat and 
tea for supper, we were quite content to get into our 
sleeping-bags. 

We rose after a few hours' sleep and went on. The 
going kept getting better as we proceeded. The last 
rough ice we encountered was just off Cairn Point, 
where we had to cut our way with our picks for perhaps 
half a mile. Once through this last patch of chaos, 
we stopped long enough to polish our runners and boil 
some tea, before starting out across Smith Sound. 

I have never driven over better ice than that which 
extended before us as far as we could see. It was hard 
as steel, and covered with just enough snow to give the 
dogs sure footing without balling up between their toes. 
The dogs sped along with our heavily laden sledges 
without any effort whatever. In a narrow crack in the 
young ice seals kept bobbing up, exciting both dogs and 
Eskimos and stimulating us all with the prospect of 
fresh meat for camp. We made camp beside a small ice- 
berg in a pressure ridge that we encountered, where we 
built two snow houses for the night. E-took-a-shoo har- 
pooned a fine young seal, fulfilling our hopes of fresh 
meat. 

Though we did not get into our sleeping-bags until an 
hour after midnight, we were well fed and warm, though 
the temperature was lower than the night before. At 



APPENDIX II 339 

seven-thirty the next morning we hit the trail. As dur- 
ing the later part of the preceding day's march, our way 
lay in a belt of smooth, hard ice between the old, very 
rough ice of last year and the open water. The snow 
upon the ice was flat-packed, and rippled slightly by the 
wind, just the kind most favorable to the dogs. The 
day was cold, clear, and sunshiny, and we made ex- 
cellent time to Cape Sabine, where we camped at Igloo- 
suah, Peary's old headquarters on Payer Harbor. A 
year before I had come into Igloosuah on my way home 
to Etah, discouraged because I could not accompany 
MacMillan and Fitz to Crocker Land, both my feet 
frozen, and my body worn by pain and exhaustion. 
Now I was in the best of health and condition, con- 
fident of accomplishing my purpose and achieving my 
aim. 

We stayed at Igloosuah until the forenoon of the 30th, 
feeding our dogs to constant satiety upon the walrus and 
narwhal meat that Fitz and the Eskimos had cached 
there the preceding summer. We were very comfortable 
in the old shack that is all that is left of Peary's station, 
for we could not heat it so much that the frost and 
snow melted and wet and dampened our clothes, as 
had been the case when I had been there several times 
before. The Eskimos were surprised that we found no 
trace of bear, for this was one of the favorite haunts of 
old white bruin, and we were the first party to come to the 
place that season. 

The drive around Pirn Island through Rice Strait was 
anything but pleasant. Though the sun shone clear, 
the wind blew cold and strong, driving the steel-sharp, 
steel-cold snow before it like so many tiny daggers that 
cut the face mercilessly and slowed down our dogs. 



340 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

We made a long marcli, however, and got well into 
Buchanan Bay before we made Camp Greely on the ice 
off the northernmost point of Johan Peninsula. Through- 
out my trip I named each camp, so that I might the 
more easily remember it. Thus I had already made 
Camp Sonntag and Camp Hayes. 

When we broke camp the next morning, Esayoo urged 
that instead of going up Beitstad Fjord, as we intended, 
we should cross Buchanan Bay and go up Flagler Fjord. 
In the latter he said we would find hard-packed snow 
and good going, as he knew from personal experience; 
in the former he felt sure we would find such deep snow 
as we had encountered the previous year over much of 
our route. I hesitated to act upon his suggestion, for 
I was loath to change my plans, but after conferring 
with Oobloyah, in whom I placed the utmost confi- 
dence, and who said we could not make any serious 
mistake to follow Esayoo 's advice in anything, I de- 
cided to do as he urged. At first we met deep snow, 
but in a short time the going began improving, and kept 
getting better, until along Bache Peninsula we found a 
real Arctic boulevard, and before we made camp got 
quite to Eskimopolis at the point of Knud Peninsula. 
This was the first of the many valuable suggestions that 
Esayoo made on the trip, and that fully justified his 
reputation for good judgment and knowledge of the 
ways of the North. 

I named our stopping-place Camp Small, for we 
reached it in the first hour of Jot's birthday — he was 
born on April 1st, and he always said he was Cape Cod's 
April fool. At this place E-took-a-shoo built a big 
snow house, the largest I ever saw in Greenland, with 
ample room for our whole party. Numerous bear tracks 



APPENDIX II 341 

about this place induced me to yield to the Eskimos' 
desire to stay a day to hunt, and we lay over. All the 
Eskimos went bear-hunting, except Esayoo, who had a 
stomach-ache; they came in after a few hours with the 
meat and skins of two bears, and we all feasted on 
bear meat for supper. 

One of my dogs, a big tawny fellow, was seized with 
rabies at this camp; the dogs at Etah had been subject 
to the sickness through the winter, and now both the 
Eskimos and I were worried lest this dog of mine was 
only the first of our teams to fall victim to it. In every 
other way the prospect was most satisfactory; our dogs 
were generally in good condition, well fed, and not at 
all footsore; the ice ahead of us seemed smooth and 
but little covered with snow; the weather, though cold, 
was calm and clear; we ourselves were in the pink of 
condition and the best of spirits. The esprit de corps of 
my party was exceptionally good. 

When we started out from Camp Small I had to leave 
behind us my sick dog, tied to a snow block, with 
enough meat for several days within reach, but I had 
little hope of his recovery ; he could not stand on his feet, 
and every half -hour or so he was seized with a paroxysm 
that seemed to leave him almost dead. We left this 
camp rather reluctantly, for it was a pleasant place; 
but when we once got away we felt no regret. The 
going was splendid, the weather fine. As we dashed 
along, Esayoo pointed out to me the big cairn on the 
narrow isthmus of Bache Peninsula that Peary and he 
had built many years before. Though it was many miles 
away, I could see it with my naked eye. It must be a 
big one. 

We camped again at Camp Sverdrup on the ice-foot 



342 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

in the lee of the shore at the head of Flagler Fjord. When 
we broke camp the next morning, Easter Sunday, I was 
profoundly impressed with the magnificent view that 
lay before us as we started up the valley. The scenery 
was superb. Like great walls on either side, the pre- 
cipitous mountains rose to guard the pass that we 
intended to go through. Never in all my Arctic experi- 
ence have I been so thrilled, so excited, so exhilarated 
as I was during our drive up the valley to the pass, that 
glorious Easter Sunday. The sun shone clear, and the 
weather was so warm that we drove all day without 
our caribou-skin kooletahs; the ease and pleasure of 
this route, compared with the Beitstad Fjord way of the 
year before, delighted me; the going was good, the 
scenery unsurpassed; on every side we saw game or 
traces of game; and late in the afternoon, just after 
we had passed through the narrow gateway into a broad 
valley in the heart of the hills, we saw and killed our 
first musk-ox, a fitting close to an explorer's lucky day. 
I could have hugged Esayoo for guiding me by this 
pass. I named the gateway Sverdrup Pass, in honor 
of the stalwart old Norwegian explorer who had first 
seen it. 

A storm kept us camped in this valley at Camp Green 
until the evening of April 7th. Then Oobloyah and 
Okpuddyshao helped us up the glacier as a last evidence 
of friendly interest and kind regard, and turned back 
toward Etah. We crossed the ice-cap in a few hours. 
I shall never forget my surprise when suddenly the 
black, serrated cordillera north of Bay Fjord burst upon 
the view as we reached the crest of the divide; I had not 
expected to see it for many hours. The descent to Bay 
Fjord was rapid and easy; when we struck the sea ice 



APPENDIX II 343 

again we made coffee in celebration of our quick and easy 
passage, and Esayoo was "guest of honor." 

Scarcely had we reached the low land of the west 
coast when Nukapingwa discerned a large herd of musk- 
oxen not far from the site of Camp Ekblaw, as Mac 
had named the place the previous year from which I 
had been forced to return with frozen feet. A quick 
unloading of sledges, a fast chase across the little bay, 
and a wild dash up the mountain-side brought us to 
the shaggy beasts that we so much needed for food for 
ourselves and our dogs. Nukapingwa brought them 
to bay far up on the mountain-side, where he shot them 
one by one. Their great carcasses came rolling down, 
one after another, to our very feet, much to the excite- 
ment and joy of our dogs. At this place we established 
Camp Tanquary, where we stayed until we had consumed 
all the meat of the eleven musk-oxen killed. 

The trip down Bay Fjord was slow and leisurely. 
We camped once at Camp MacMillan on the south 
side of the fjord, near a cliff in which I investigated 
a thick seam of soft lignitic coal, and from the top of 
which I could make a sketch of most of Bay Fjord and 
its tributaries. Across the fjord we could see a great 
herd of musk-oxen feeding on a wide meadow at the 
foot of the mountains; and I found no difficulty in 
getting the Eskimos started early the next morning — 
the musk-oxen were the best possible incentive to early 
rising. 

On the way across the fjord we found the fresh track 
of a big bear. Nukapingwa preferred to go after the 
bear rather than join the rest of us in the musk-oxen 
kill, so he set off himself up the fjord after the bear. 
The others of us made a kill of fourteen fat, sleek musk- 



344 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

oxen from one to three years old. The herd of which 
they were a part was composed of the finest specimens 
of musk-oxen that I have seen. They were thick 
padded with fat as golden and sweet as butter; their 
coats glistened bright and well kept in the bright 
sunshine; and their horns were smooth and polished. 
Esayoo counted sixty-seven in the herd. Their splen- 
did condition was no doubt due to the excellent pasturage 
they found on the grassy meadows among the moun- 
tains and along the fjord. 

The west coast of Ellesmere Land in the vicinity of 
Bay Fjord is not generally so precipitous and bleak as 
the east coast. It is more maturely dissected, the val- 
leys are wider, the slopes are less steep, and the moun- 
tains do not everywhere rise so abruptly. Large tracts 
support a relatively luxuriant growth of willow, sedge, 
and grass, the chief foods of the musk-oxen. 

Several of our dogs slipped their traces at this kill, 
among them one of my dogs, a little wolf -like gray creat- 
ure, that Allen had named Pookey. Pookey was a 
strong, willing dog of which I had grown very fond in 
the short time I had driven her. Pookey had become 
wild with excitement when we made the kill, especially 
after we had driven the part of the herd that we spared 
away toward the mountains. The wolf in her grew 
dominant, and for the time being she became wild. I 
could not catch her, nor would she give up worrying 
the musk-oxen, until late that evening. Then, ashamed 
of her waywardness, she skulked back to camp over 
the sea ice, just as Nukapingwa came in flushed with 
success from his bear-hunt. He could not see our camp 
for a little ridge between us and the sea, but he did see 
Pookey sneaking along. Sad to say, I had told my 



APPENDIX II 345 

companions that very morning, when we had observed 
several pairs of wolves following us, to shoot every wolf 
that they could, for the skins were rare and valuable as 
museum specimens; Nukapingwa thought Pookey a 
wolf and put a bullet right through her. She crawled 
into camp, and Nukapingwa told me rather shame- 
facedly what he had done, offering me any dog in his 
team to replace her. Though I did all I could for poor 
Pookey, she could not hope to keep up with the team- 
mates she had led before; to end her sufferings I put a 
bullet from my Remington .32 through her head, and 
she was still. 

Arklio and Nukapingwa turned back from this camp. 
Camp Hunt. Their sledges were well laden with skins 
and meat. By them I sent, too, my last message to 
the men at Etah before severing our last connections 
with headquarters, giving them an account of my ex- 
periences thus far. They bade us good-by early on the 
morning of the 14tli; they started their dogs home- 
ward as we turned ours out toward Eureka Sound and 
the unknown. 

Down the rest of Bay Fjord and up Eureka Sound 
the going was good. In three camps — Camps Isachsen, 
Schei, and Allen — or four marches, we attained the 
northernmost end of Fosheim Peninsula at the mouth 
of Greely Fjord. All along the way we had seen musk- 
oxen on the hills on both sides of the sound, and we 
had killed all we had needed for food. Even on the ice 
we found their tracks for miles. At midnight of the 
18th we saw the midnight sun for the first time, so 
we called our stopping-place Midnight Sun Camp. We 
knew we were near musk-oxen by the way our dogs be- 
haved, but we did not see any. 



346 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

The next morning we had not driven a mile before 
E-took-a-shoo, who was in the lead, swung up over 
the bank along the ice-foot on which we were traveling, 
and our dogs followed. There before us, not fifty yards 
away, was a big herd of musk-oxen, all bunched up to 
give fight. Because I had promised my companions 
that as soon as we found a goodly flock of the big ani^ 
mals in a place comfortable for an extended camp we 
should kill enough to keep us supplied with food for a 
week or ten days, while we rested and fattened our dogs 
preparatory to entering upon the exploration of the new 
lands about which we knew nothing, I told them that 
we should kill the entire herd. 

To do so seemed wanton slaughter, for when the kill 
was over we had brought down twenty -one musk-oxen — 
a few only yearlings; most, two- or three-year-olds. 
But we had three teams of hungry dogs, and a team of 
eight or ten dogs easily devours a musk-oxen at a meal, 
even though it be almost as big as a two-year-old steer. 
At the end of seven days the meat was gone, except for 
a little that we carried on our sledges. 

We stayed until April 26th at this camp. Camp 
E-took-a-shoo, well fed and comfortable. E-took-a- 
shoo built at this camp a substantial, roomy snow house, 
the last we needed on that trip, and we lined it through- 
out with the many skins of the musk-ox we killed. 
Every day we went tramping about the great rolling 
plain that comprises the northern end of the peninsula. 
I collected dry plants and fossils assiduously. Of the 
latter I found many, both Paleozoic and Mesozoic. 
The peninsula teems with life. Hundreds of hares, 
scores of ptarmigan, and herds of musk-oxen feed on the 
slopes of the hills and the valley plains. The country 



APPENDIX II 347 

is a veritable musk-ox pasture. From the top of Mt. 
Hovey, a proud eminence that rises up over the point 
of the peninsula, I counted over 200 musk-oxen in sight. 
Wolves, foxes, ermine, and lemming are common on the 
land. The snow along the coast is beaten down in a 
wide path by passing bears. 

During our stay there the sun shone bright and clear 
and warm, so that we dried a musk-ox skin for each of 
us; hardly a breath of wind came to annoy us. In 
summer it must be a beautiful place. 

April 26th we set out again. Our dogs were so well 
fed that they were lazy, and we progressed slowly for 
several hours. As their laziness wore off we gained 
speed. By the time we made Camp Fosheim — beside 
an iceberg — the dogs were going well. All along the 
way we saw game of all kinds. 

Beside the iceberg at Camp Fosheim we left all the 
equipment we should not need, for a short dash up 
Canon Fjord. On the shore near us four musk-oxen 
were feeding. We agreed to leave them to kill when we 
got back, that we might have a good feed for our dogs 
before crossing Greely Fjord. The going up Canon 
Fjord was very good, and we sped along with a dash, 
making in eight hours the distance that it had taken 
Fosheim and Raanes a week. We made a kill of musk- 
oxen at a valley near the head of the fjord and stayed 
there over the 28th. Musk-oxen were numerous all 
about us. A cow in a small herd within a mile of our 
camp gave birth to a calf, the first we had seen. 
The stay there was most pleasant indeed, marked by 
our first sight of the cheery little snow-bunting, the 
only songster of the Northland, who afterward was with 
us nearly every day. 

23 



348 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

E-took-a-shoo and I built a big cairn on the sandstone 
ledge of a little cape that ran out into the head of the 
fjord. We found on this cape the ruins of two Eskimo 
stone houses, and from the great slabs of those struct- 
ures we built, in part, the big cairn. In a bottle in 
the foot of this cairn v/e left a record of our achieve- 
ments up to that time. On the back of the record I 
indited a stanza of our most popular Illinois song. I 
wished to put up a conspicuous, permanent cairn at 
this point, that any one coming into the fjord in the 
future could readily find it and verify my having been 
there. 

In one day's march we again got back to Camp Fos- 
heim, and went in search of the four musk-oxen that we 
had left for our return. We could see only one dark 
mass where we had left the four, but we supposed the 
other three were merely out of sight behind some little 
ridge or hummock. We were much surprised to find, 
when we got to it, that our one dark spot was a dead 
musk-ox, and that the others were gone. During our 
absence up the fjord, a pair of wolves had attacked one 
of the herd, a full-grown bull, had succeeded in bringing 
him down, and had eaten part of his carcass. The 
other musk-oxen had fled. The story of the struggle 
was written legibly in the snow; there could be no doubt 
of its character. One of the wolves, apparently the 
female or smaller, had attracted the attention of the 
musk-ox by attacking his head, while the male, the 
larger, had secured a hold of his hind quarters and 
dragged him down. The wolves had sneaked away upon 
our approach, for the places where they had been lying 
were still warm. Though we had been cheated out of 
the fresh meat we had expected, we had definitely estab- 



APPENDIX II 349 

lished the fact that a pair of wolves is a match for a full- 
grown musk-ox. 

From Camp Fosheim we set out northwest toward the 
unexplored coast of Grant Land. To our right Greely 
Fjord extended, misty and mysterious, the unknown 
portion of our trail. Before us opened a fjord, how long 
or how large we could not tell. We headed for the 
mouth of this fjord. The snow lay soft and deep; after 
a long, slow drag in which I broke trail all day with 
snow-shoes, leading my dogs, we came near enough 
to search the hills with our glasses. The scenery was 
grand, but the prospect was dubious. Grant Land is a 
land of high relief; great dark mountains, some round- 
topped and snow-covered, some sharp-peaked and black, 
with gleaming glaciers coming down most of the valleys, 
constitute the dominant tone of the landscape; but of 
game we could not see a trace. We made camp just at 
the mouth of the fjord, in the shadow of a frowning, for- 
bidding cliff. 

We entered the fjord the next morning, I leading the 
way on my snow-shoes to break the trail as on the day 
before. Until noon we could see no trace of game. 
Shortly after twelve we stopped to rest, and finally 
with my big Leitz glasses we descried a musk-ox walking 
along the crest of a ridge far within the fjord. Then 
we saw another, and still another; then many; finally 
we could count over sixty, and knew there must be more 
about. We were overjoyed, for now we were sure that 
the unknown land had game and food for us. 

As we started out again, I could not help a brief 
muttered prayer of thanks — "Lord, Thou hast done well 
with us" — and took my place at the head with renewed 
strength. The way to the musk-oxen was long and hard, 



350 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

though, and it was six o'clock when finally we stopped 
our sledges to start up the hill after the game; I was 
so tired, and my legs ached so, that I promised myself 
most fervently that if I ever got back to the land of 
carriages, automobiles, and street-cars, I should never 
again walk one step fiiore than absolutely necessary. 

I did not believe that I should ever be able to get to 
the top of the mountain where the musk-oxen were, for 
they were at least two miles from our sledges, and the 
mountain was about 2,000 feet high. To make matters 
worse, the snow lay deep everywhere. We walked up 
Indian file, E-took-a-shoo in the lead, Esayoo next, and 
I last. We made a broad, deep trail. Even with the 
trail broken, I found it hard to keep up with my men. 
Just before coming up to the musk-oxen, I thought half 
seriously, half humorously, "Lord, Thou hast done 
well, but for the sake of my weary legs. Thou couldst 
have done better." I had hardly given form to the 
thought when Esayoo suggested that we go beyond the 
herd before shooting, in the hope that the musk-oxen 
might try to escape in the direction we had come and thus 
get nearer our dogs. If we made our kill we should have to 
go back after our dogs, lead them up the hill, and, after 
feeding them, take them back again, an almost impossible 
walk for my weary legs. 

We acted upon Esayoo's suggestion and stalked around 
the herd before we began shooting. At the first volley 
the musk-oxen broke their square and fled. To our 
great joy, the whole herd started down our well-beaten 
path. We could see only part of the way, because a 
rise in the slope cut off our view, but as we followed after 
them as fast as we could our elation increased as we went, 
for they had gone right back on our track. Finally 



APPENDIX II 351 

we came upon them at bay on a little cliff just above 
our dogs and sledges. Our dogs were frantic to get at 
tbem. It was an easy matter to shoot all we needed. 
After we had killed them, all we had to do was to roll 
them over the cliff down to our sledges, instead of 
tramping quite up to the top of the mountain again, 
as we should have had to do except for Esayoo's sensible 
suggestion. As I crept into my cozy sleeping-bag that 
night I gratefully gave shape to my last thought, 
"Lord, Thou hast done splendidly." In the bright sun- 
shine we slept on our sledges without tent or other 
shelter. 

The next two days we spent exploring the new fjord, 
which I named Borup Fjord in honor ^f my lamented 
friend, George Borup, to whom our expedition was a 
memorial. Borup Fjord is a magnificent bay sixteen 
miles deep, with two tributary arms on the east side. 
It is flanked on either side by high mountains, some 
Alpine in character, with blue valley glaciers coming 
down between the dark, sharp peaks. On the plateaus 
and domes inland the snow lay deep everywhere. 
Numerous large herds of musk-oxen roamed over the 
slopes, indicating an abundant pasturage. At our camp 
Esayoo and I scraped away the snow with our snow- 
shoes in several places; in all we found a thick, close 
carpet of vegetation. I should like to see these shores 
in summer when the snow is melted. 

In the exploration of Borup Fjord I had to break the 
trail on snow-shoes every foot we went; the snow was 
over three feet deep on the level, and sledging, even 
with empty sledges, was heavy. My legs seemed ready 
to drop off. 

Yet the days seemed short, so many interesting things 



352 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

engaged our attention. The first seals we had seen 
upon the ice lay basking in the golden sunshine — eight 
of them; Esayoo and E-took-a-shoo tried for them, but 
with no success. Though fresh bear tracks were numer- 
ous, we saw none of these "brethren of the icebergs." 
A snowy owl swooped for a lemming scurrying across the 
snow, but failed to get him. Spring was coming into the 
Northland, and life was everywhere stirring actively 
about again. 

The large number of musk-oxen in this new land and 
the evidence of abundant game along Greely Fjord en- 
couraged us to expect little difficulty as far as food was 
concerned; but when we started up Greely Fjord we 
could not help feeling somewhat doubtful as to the going. 
The snow was very deep, and so soft that it balled up 
badly between the dogs' toes. For two days we snow- 
shoed beside our sledges. Then the going got better, 
for as we neared the head of the^ fjord the surface was 
hard enough to bear the weight of the dogs and sledges, 
because the wind had packed the snow more. We killed 
no game, for the sides of the fjord were almost pre- 
cipitous walls of gray and brown sandstone and gray 
and blue limestone, so that we could not readily see 
over onto the hills. 

A small narrow fjord opens into Greely Fjord on the 
south side. At the head of this little fjord a large 
glacier comes down from the ice-cap, but does not quite 
reach the sea. On the north side of the fjord we dis- 
covered the mouth of a large fjord, so cut off by pro- 
jecting capes that we could not see more than a few miles 
into it. Near the mouth we killed two musk-oxen for 
dog food, and made camp. With rare good luck, I 
found that we had made our kill on a richly fossiliferous 



APPENDIX II 353 

limestone cliff, from which I collected a rather satis- 
factory group of corals and brachiopods. Game and 
vegetation were abundant here also. 

From this camp we set out to explore the fjord. 
From my first sight of it I determined to name it Tan- 
quary Fjord, and a range of high mountains about the 
head of the fjord, Osborn Mountains; the latter of these 
I named in honor of my friend and patron. President 
Henry Fairfield Osborn of the American Museum of 
Natural History, and the former in honor of my fellow 
in science on the expedition, the true friend of many 
years. Dr. M. C. Tanquary. The bold headland at the 
mouth of the fjord I named Cape James, in honor of 
"Prexy" Edmund James James of the University of 
Illinois, who has long been my inspiring friend; and the 
mountain opposite, Mt. Bayley, to honor my friend and 
mentor. Dr. W. S. Bayley, also of the university. Be- 
cause of my deep admiration for Louise Homer, her of 
the sweet voice, I named the land between Borup Fjord 
and Tanquary Fjord Louise Homer Land. Naming the 
new capes and bays and mountains and glaciers and 
islands was some of the best fun I had on my lonely trip. 

The exploration of Tanquary Fjord was the most im- 
portant work of my journey. We spent four days at 
this task, but it was well worth the time. Tanquary 
Fjord is deep, extending almost thirty miles northwest- 
ward into the very heart of Grant Land, in the general 
direction of Lake Hazen. It is bordered on both sides 
by high mountains, of which those on the south side 
are sharp and steep, those of the north shore more slop- 
ing and rounded. Numerous glaciers reach the waters 
of the fjord, but they do not discharge many icebergs. 
The scenery about the head of the fjord is wild and 



354 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

picturesque, as grand as any I saw in the North. A 
large valley extending toward Lake Hazen opens out 
upon the fjord at its head. On the shore about the 
mouth of this valley we found the ruins of ancient 
Eskimo habitations; I feel sure that the old Eskimo 
route across Grant Land was up this fjord, and then up 
the valley to the lake. We climbed a high mountain 
the better to survey the pass, and were sorely tempted 
to make an attempt to get to Lake Hazen by this ap- 
parently easy route. We finally gave up the idea of 
doing so, because I wished to go over the same route 
that Lieut. J. B. Lockwood and Serg. D. L. Brainard, 
of Greely's party, had traversed many years before. 

Musk-oxen were plentiful along the shores of the 
fjords. We saw many tracks of bear, caribou, and wolf, 
and of hares and ptarmigan the number was legion. 
Fox and ermine tracks were not very common, but 
lemming tracks netted the snow. We killed six musk- 
oxen, two at one of our camps and four at another. 
On the plateau where we killed the two we found the 
ruins of Eskimo caches and fox-traps, further indicating 
that the Eskimos had one time lived on the shore of 
this fjord. 

May 16th we reached the head of Greely Fjord, the 
very day that Lieutenant Lockwood and Sergeant Brain- 
ard started homeward in 1883, thirty-two years before. 
The head of the fjord had not changed one jot, one tittle, 
so far as we could tell by comparing Lockwood's excel- 
lent sketches which I carried with me, with the view 
that stretched before us; every dark cliff, every patch 
of snow, every gully in the slopes, appeared unchanged. 
We followed their route and camped on the same lake 
as they did many years before. 



APPENDIX II 355 

And this little lake is, I feel sure, one of the dreariest, 
loneliest, coldest spots on this old globe of ours. It is 
about fifteen miles long and two miles wide, bounded 
on the south side and on the north by almost vertical 
cliffs over 1,500 feet high, and terminated at either end 
by bleak, blue glaciers. In my four years' experience 
of silent vastnesses, and lonely distances, in the North, 
I never felt so submerged in the forsakenness of the 
Arctic as I did in this prison-like lake-bed. I cannot 
imagine anything lonelier than this far northern crypt 
at Arctic midnight when a northern blizzard rages. It 
would be the best hiding-place on earth, I think; and 
if Santa Claus needs a safe place convenient to his North 
Pole home to store his Christmas gifts without fear of 
thieves, he cannot find a better one than this lake. 
They would be safe as in a vault. 

At the head of the lake, a narrow canon-like pass 
between the face of the glacier and the high cliffs af- 
forded us escape from the prison; but we were forced 
to prepare a way with our ice-picks, over the debris 
of blocks broken from the glacier. We worked at this 
several hours before we were able to get by. Then we 
entered a canon, of which the cliffs towered sheer above 
us over 1,000 feet. We sledged along on the frozen 
stream at the bottom of this canon for several hours; 
in the dark gloom the air was very cold, and we were 
anxious to get out onto the slopes above. When at 
last we came to a fork where a tributary gorge entered, 
we stopped to consider whether to attempt the tributary 
or the main canon. E-took-a-shoo reconnoitered the 
tributary gorge, while Esayoo and I made tea to warm 
us a little. E-took-a-shoo reported that he felt sure we 
could easily get out by way of the little gorge. 



356 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

After tea we started up the cold, rocky, narrow gorge. 
Four times we had to unload our sledges and carry 
everything over the rock dams that had slidden across 
the gorge. Finally we came to one so steep and high 
that Esayoo said it would be wisest for us to investigate 
farther on foot, to determine with certainty whether or 
not we could get out, before we carried all the equip- 
ment and sledges up over the barrier. While E-took-a- 
shoo watched the dogs, Esayoo and I scouted ahead. 
After a five-mile walk, we came at last to the end of the 
gorge and found that it ended in a steep, rocky wall up 
which we could not take our sledges. Much discouraged, 
we retraced our steps to the sledges, and after a con- 
sultation headed back down the gorge. Several hours' 
hard traveling brought us to the main canon again, and 
we pitched camp. 

The prospect began to concern us. For three days 
our dogs had had no food; the going had been hard, the 
weather cold. We could find no way out with our dogs 
and sledges. The following day I suffered a slight at- 
tack of snow-blindness, so I could not travel, and our 
concern increased, but Esayoo and E-took-a-shoo found 
a place where they thought we might possibly get up 
on the plateau. We built a cairn on a great flat-topped 
rock at the forks of the canon, left a record in it, cached 
some of our small store of petroleum and every bit of 
equipment with which we could dispense, and early the 
next morning hit the trail again. All day we toiled, and 
when the sun began to swing into the north finally 
got up onto the plateau. Though we saw spoor of 
musk-oxen, none were fresh; our dogs were worn and 
weak and suffering; unless we found meat quickly we 
should be in a precarious situation. 



APPENDIX II 357 

We sledged along a broad flat valley on the plateau, 
until we came to a small lake, surrounded by high hills. 
We crossed the lake and made camp at its upper end. 
The cold was intense and the wind blew a gale. Our 
poor dogs were fast failing. After tea, Esayoo and I 
set out in different directions in search of musk-oxen; 
though we were gone for hours, we found no trace of 
them or any other game. 

All night the wind blew. When we dug our dogs out 
of the snow the next morning we found that nearly all 
had eaten their traces and that they were almost too 
weak to move. I had to put two of mine on the sledge, 
while Esayoo and E-took-a-shoo each had to take one 
of his own. Esayoo and I started out ahead over the 
hills, pushing the sledges to help the dogs at every little 
drift or rise. We got to the top of the divide and 
started down. Going down the slope on the other side 
was easy enough, for the sledges went almost of their 
own weight. Near the bottom, as we swung around a 
ledge of rock, we nearly collided with a big musk-ox. 
Our dogs forgot they were weak and tired, and set wildly 
after him. Then we saw two more, then three, and 
finally a herd of eight bunched up to fight us off. Our 
dogs rushed in upon them, and in a few moments we had 
shot them. When E-took-a-shoo came in a few minutes 
later we were able to greet him exultantly with an 
abundance of meat. Our ordeal was over. 

We made Camp Remington at this place, and stayed 
over for a day to rest our dogs and to give them a full 
feed. We were far up toward the divide of Grant Land, 
and Mt. Arthur, a snow-covered, rounded dome, rose 
like a barrier before us. While we were camped there 
we looked everywhere for the lake that, according to 



358 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

Lieutenant Lockwood's map, should lie at the foot of 
Mt. Arthur, but could find nothing but a great plain 
on the site. 

After the rest and the abundance of food at Camp 
Remington, we were again ready for anything that 
might happen. We headed due north, traveling along 
the left of Veery River until we passed Mt. Arthur. 
We searched eagerly for the cairn that Maj. A. W. Greely 
built at its foot in 1882, that we might take back with 
us the record that he left there then, but we were dis- 
appointed in our search. 

From the top of a large mountain north of Mt. 
Arthur, which I climbed while Esayoo and E-took-a- 
shoo made tea about four o'clock in the afternoon of 
May 22d, I first saw Lake Hazen, some ten miles to the 
northwest of us. We knew that we were approaching 
its upper end, but had not caught a glimpse of it before. 
The view to the north was truly wonderful. The Con- 
ger Mountains, nearly all round-topped and white with 
snow, lay in the foreground like a snow wall, Mt. Council 
and Mt. Biederbick rising distinct above the rest. 
Behind them, farther away, rose the high, black, sharp 
peaks of the United States range. To the northeast lay 
Lake Hazen, a snow-white plain, set among the snow- 
clad hills. But in all the landscape, the wide valley at 
the head of the lake flanked by steep walls was the most 
spectacular feature. Not a bit of snow covered the plain 
or the cliffs about, and white steam was rising from the 
upper reaches of the lake and the pools of the plain, 
as from a witch's caldron. This dark, steaming valley 
set among the white, calm hills looked like a veritable 
inferno. 

After a careful survey of the way ahead of us I hur- 



APPENDIX II 359 

ried down to Esayoo and E-took-a-shoo to tell them the 
good news. While we drank our tea we talked over our 
route, and decided to try to get to the head of the 
valley, if not to the lake, that day. Soon after we 
started, the valley of the Veery River narrowed down 
to a mere gorge, across which numerous landslides had 
thrown high rock barriers. Eighteen times that after- 
noon we had to unload our sledges and carry our equip- 
ment over such barriers. By the time we reached the 
end of the gorge, we were all fatigued and cross, even 
the dogs being in exceedingly bad humor. 

On the flat where we pitched camp at the mouth of 
the gorge hundreds of Arctic hares were feeding. They 
were not at all timid, and came up within a few yards 
of our sledges. Esayoo's whole team of dogs broke 
loose and chased pellmell up the mountain-side after 
a pair of the fleet white hares. The dogs came back 
soon, all except one. I felt sorry for old Esayoo, upon 
whom the hard trail had been most wearing that after- 
noon, and went out to seek his dog. After about an 
hour's search I found it, its trace caught between two 
rocks, and brought it back to camp. Supper that eve- 
ning was one of the best meals I have ever eaten. 

The next day was hard indeed. We sledged down 
the flat river valley over rocks, gravel, sand, and all 
kinds of going. Often we waded through water up 
above our boot-tops; at other times we were in mud. 
For half a mile the upper end of Lake Hazen is very 
shallow, and there the ice was all rotten, in places 
quite melted. It was the most unpleasant going we 
had experienced since our first day out from Etah. 

We finally passed the open water and got on good ice. 
We made camp beside a small islet near the head of 



360 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

tiie lake; though we hunted for musk-ox, we found 
none; only old skulls and skeletons, where Peary's 
Eskimos — Esayoo among them — had killed game years 
before. Another day's march brought us to the source 
of Ruggles River, the outlet from the lake. Here we 
had expected to find a pool of open water in which 
we might catch some of the big, fat Lake Hazen salmon, 
but we were disappointed to find it frozen solid. Not 
being able to fish in open water, we had to make a hole 
\^ through the ice if v/e wanted any salmon; hence, 
E-took-a-shoo and I dug two holes with our picks and 
hatchets, both holes over eight feet deep. Much to our 
i chagrin, we struck the gravel at the bottom instead of 

water. Hungry as we were for salmon, we gave up 
such unlucky fishing. We killed three nice, fat musk- 
oxen, though, not far from the mouth of the lake. 

We were sorely disappointed to find no one here to 
meet us. We had confidently expected to see some one, 
perhaps Tank, perhaps Mac, perhaps Hal, and a num- 
ber of Eskimos. Since they were not here, we concluded 
they would meet us at Fort Conger. 

It was at this camp that I was suddenly seized with 
cramps and thought I should die. I could not imagine 
what was the matter, for all the time on the trail before 
I had not been ill a minute. While lying in my sleeping- 
bag, I happened to recall a tale I had once read of an 
Eskimo who had eaten a lot of warm caribou tallow, 
and afterward drunk some ice-water, with the result 
that the tallow stiffened in his pyloric sphincter and 
killed him. I remembered that I had committed the 
same indiscretion that day and felt certain of my im- 
pending demise as a consequence. I hurriedly wrote 
some good-by messages, told Esayoo what of my equip- 



APPENDIX II 361 

ment to take to Etah and what to leave behind, and 
resigned myself to the mercy of my sphincter. The 
next morning I woke still alive, hope returned, and 
despite my sphincter I took the trail happy again. 

Ruggles River, the outlet of Lake Hazen, was a 
splendid thoroughfare. It is a great frozen stream 
some quarter of a mile wide and forty feet deep, frozen 
solid. We drove in a canon about twenty feet deep, 
cut in the ice by the water from the lake, and on the 
good going soon reached salt water. We had successfully 
crossed Grant Land from salt water to salt water again. 

The going down Chandler Fjord and up to Lady 
Franklin Bay was hard, because the snow was so deep 
and soft. Summer was fast coming and the noonday 
sun was warm. Seals were numerous on the ice; on 
Chandler Fjord, Esayoo got a large one for our dogs, 
the first they had had for months. Accustomed to 
musk-ox meat for so long, the dogs could not digest the 
fat seal meat, and repeatedly vomited all they had 
eaten. From Lake Hazen to Lady Franklin Bay we 
made four marches; our three camps were Camps Bart- 
lett, Borup, and Marvin. 

Camp Marvin was on the point of the little peninsula 
north of Sun Bay. At this camp a great polar bear came 
to call upon us. We had just got into our sleeping-bags 
when our dogs began baying madly. We thought at 
once that a big herd of musk-oxen that Esayoo had 
seen just after we had made camp had wandered 
down so close that the dogs had winded them. We 
all rushed out to investigate; on a flat pan of ice less 
than one hundred yards from our tent a big polar bear 
sat on his haunches, calmly surveying our camp and 
dogs. We cut the traces of our dogs, and Mr. Bear 



362 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

had to move. He headed for an iceberg about a half- 
mile from camp, and made it before the dogs "treed** 
him. Dressed only in their underclothes, boots, and 
rifles, my two companions hurried out after him. I 
stopped long enough to augment my costume by a pair 
of snow-shoes, my hunting-knife, and my camera. 
When I got out to the bear the dogs were worrying him 
sadly; they seemed to annoy him grievously; every 
hair on his body was dripping perspiration, and every 
few moments he threw his great head into the wind to 
take a sniff of its ozone. I photographed him to my 
heart's content, and then put a .32 Remington bullet 
through his skull. His soft, golden-white pelt was 
beautiful. 

From Camp Marvin we made a visit to Fort Conger, 
the site of Major Greely's headquarters. We camped 
there one night, boiling our meat and tea on the old 
Army Range No. 1 which still stands in good condition, 
though rusty, in the kitchen, the only part left of the 
headquarters* house. We made excellent coffee from 
some we found in a sealed tin in the old kitchen; strange 
to say, it retained its aroma fresh and strong; we en- 
joyed it very much, and when we left, Esayoo took 
several pounds with him. All about the place, even in 
the kitchen, we found relatively fresh spoor of many 
musk-oxen. To search about the ruins was very in- 
teresting, though not much is left of all the equipment 
abandoned by the expedition. The tablet put up to the 
memory of C. W. Paul and J. J. Hand, of H.M.S. 
Discovery, members of Nares's North Greenland Explor- 
ing Party, who died of scurvy while out on the trail, 
and who were buried at Hall's Rest on Polaris Bay, 
stands clear and uninjured by storm and wind. 



APPENDIX II S63 

In one of the shanties that Peary's Eskimos have 
built of the material of old Fort Conger, we found a 
series of records left by MacMillan in 1909, when he 
stayed at the place for two weeks or more, taking tidal 
observations. They had been written in one of Major 
Greely's old note-books. I made copies of them, 
added a message of my own, and replaced the book. 
Because it was May 30th, Memorial Day, I added to 
my note a quotation in memory of C. W. Paul and 
J. J. Hand, heroes of Arctic service, and the brave 
fellows of Major Greely's party who lived here for two 
years, and left only to die on the bleak rocks of Cape 
Sabine. 

And only the Master shall praise us, and only the Master shall 

blame, 
And no one shall work for money, and no one shall work for fame, 
But each for the joy of the working, and each in his separate sphere. 
Shall draw the thing as he sees it for the God of things as they are — 

Kipling. 

As on Lake Hazen, we were disappointed to find no 
one at Fort Conger to meet us. We had confidently 
expected to find a party in camp there. As we crossed 
over from Bellot Island to Fort Conger, a gull shrieked 
somewhere out in the rough ice, and we were sure for 
a while that we had heard dogs. But time showed that 
no one had come. 

From Fort Conger we drove to the head of Discovery 
Bay, where we had seen a herd of musk-oxen on the 
mountain-side when we made Camp Marvin. The 
musk-oxen were far up the mountain, almost to the 
crest. E-took-a-shoo stayed down on the ice to watch 
the dogs while Esayoo and I went up after the musk- 
oxen. We each of us took one dog. In the warm sun- 

24 



364 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

shine the climb up the hill made us both pant and per- 
spire, but, realizing that these would probably be our 
last musk-oxen of the trip, we were not averse to the 
exertion. We let our dogs go when we were over a 
quarter-mile away from our quarry. Contrary to their 
usual custom of grouping in a square to fight off the 
dogs, these musk-oxen started to run up to the crest. 
Fearing that we should lose them, Esayoo said we must 
shoot at once. With his big .35 Winchester he dropped 
the foremost just as the big fellow passed a gap in 
the rocks; with my .32 high-power Remington I got 
the next; Esayoo took the third; I the fourth; and 
shooting alternately, we killed the whole herd of eleven, 
including three yearlings. 

E-took-a-shoo, when he heard the firing, let slip the 
dogs we had left behind, and soon they appeared on the 
scene, hot and tired, but ready for a good feed. Not 
long after, E-took-a-shoo came, too. We fed our dogs 
the meat of three animals and then cut up the rest, 
taking out all the bones. Since we were quite certain 
we should find no more musk-oxen, we reserved all the 
tenderloins, the porterhouses, the hearts, and some of 
the other choice pieces for our own food for the rest of 
the trail. Esayoo cracked all the marrow-bones and 
kept the marrow, a most highly esteemed delicacy among 
the Eskimos, to take home to Anowee, his wife. Anxious 
to get as much of the remaining meat as possible down 
to our sledges, we lashed it into the three biggest of 
the musk-ox skins, hitched our teams to them, and 
skidded down the mountain-side. Needless to say it 
was a unique ride. The improvised toboggans rolled 
and twisted and turned, so that we kept our seats on 
them only by hanging on for dear life. The dogs did 



APPENDIX II 365 

not stop for drifts or ledges or puddles; they seemed 
to enjoy the mad dash down the mountain-side as well 
as we did. 

This herd of musk-oxen was the last we saw. After 
we got our sledges reloaded we returned to Camp Mar- 
vin, where we slept, before starting on our homeward 
journey. Leaving Camp Marvin early June 3d, we 
headed directly across Lady Franklin Bay to Cape 
Baird. The ice was rather rough, but E-took-a-shoo, 
who led the party, was adept at picking out the smooth- 
est trail possible. Because the ice around Cape Baird 
was crushed and piled up chaotically, we were several 
times forced to sledge up on the land to get by. Most 
of the afternoon we traveled slowly through the rough 
ice, but about six o'clock we struck smooth ice that 
extended the whole length of Kennedy Channel, so far 
as we could see from the heights of Cape Defosse, at 
the foot of which we made Camp Archer about nine 
o'clock that evening. 

Early June 4th we broke camp again, eager to get 
down to Cape Constitution, where Mac had promised 
to make the first cache for our return. We were in 
need of no supplies, for we still had oil, tea, and suffi- 
cient meat, but we expected to find letters there, too. 
We made splendid time. The ice was smooth as glass. 
Two wide leads, over which we ferried on ice-cakes, 
indicated that the ice was breaking up, an added in- 
centive to strike the Greenland shore as soon as pos- 
sible. Not until we were near Hans Island did we 
encounter any serious obstacle. 

Just a mile or so north of that little island our progress 
was stopped by a monster pressure-ridge about forty 
feet high that seemed to extend quite across the channel. 



366 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

South of this ridge the ice was thrown up in great moun- 
tain-like ridges and cordilleras of ice-piles, the most 
chaotic expanse of rough ice I have ever seen. We 
tumped our loads and sledges over the first barrier ridge. 
After we hitched our dogs to the sledges again, we pro- 
ceeded toward Hans Island; after three hours' toilsome 
work we had not yet reached the island. 

We made camp on a flat floeberg that afforded us a 
large enough smooth surface to set up a tent. After 
supper we all climbed to the top of the island to survey 
the route ahead. The prospect was anything but 
pleasant. As far as we could see with our glasses, the 
ice was as rough as that we had just passed through. 
Finally we decided to drive around the west end of the 
island and head for Franklin Island, in the lee of which 
we might find some smooth ice. 

The next morning we again broke camp early. By 
carefully picking our way we got to the southwest cor- 
ner of Franklin Island about two o'clock. Along the 
west and south sides we encountered such rough ice 
that I despaired of getting through. E-took-a-shoo took 
the lead and picked the way. I remember that part of 
the trail as a bad dream. We pulled and pushed and 
tugged at our sledges; sometimes we had to lift them 
over almost sheer walls; sometimes we had to pull them 
out of pools of water; sometimes we had to dig them 
out of soggy drifts of snow. We were stripped down to 
essentials so far as clothes went, reeking with per- 
spiration, thoroughly soaked from falling into or wading 
through numerous pools. There was no ice-foot along 
the island, for the ice was pushed up over a hundred 
feet on the slopes. In seven hours of utmost exertion 
we made only three miles. 



APPENDIX II 367 

Then just as we were about to make camp, all tired 
out, we struck smooth ice, new and thin and treacher- 
ous, but a splendid thoroughfare. We took heart again 
and decided to try for Cape Constitution. Except for 
breaking through the young ice occasionally, and hav- 
ing to go around a number of pools and to ferry over 
a couple of leads, we made rattling good time. A great 
lake of open water extended westward from the cape. 
We went south of it. 

Esayoo, who led the way, skilfully selected the safest, 
easiest route, and we were at the cape in two hours. 
We stopped to look carefully for the flag that was to 
mark the cache, but could see none. After searching all 
about the cape, we finally concluded that Mac for some 
reason had been unable to get the supplies to the cape. 

We started out again. We had not gone a hundred 
yards when Esayoo called out, "Sledge tracks!" and 
pointed to a little patch of snow on which both dog 
tracks and the traces of sledge runners were clearly 
distinguishable. We examined them and concluded that 
they had been made that day. 

Great was our excitement, eager our anticipation. 
Even our dogs felt it, and, sniffing at the tracks, were 
wild to set out in pursuit. At Esayoo's suggestion that 
we might catch up with them if we did not camp, we 
started out again. Driving his dogs at their best speed, 
E-took-a-shoo led, Esayoo and I following him close. 
As we drove we scanned carefully the tracks we fol- 
lowed, to find some clue as to whom the sledges belonged. 
We felt sure that Oobloyah's was one of them, for we 
could recognize the track of his sledge. Who the others 
were we could only guess, but we knew that before long 
we should see them. 



368 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

Yet we were not prepared to find them as soon as 
we did. We were crossing Lafayette Bay after about 
a half-hour's driving when we heard a rifle-shot near 
us. Our dogs went wild and headed at right angles 
to our course, directly into the bay. Not a half-mile 
from us, nestled down at the foot of the high, gloomy 
cliffs, gleamed the little brown tanalite tent we knew so 
well, with sledges grouped about it, and a white man 
and some Eskimos. 

In less time than it takes to tell we were at the camp. 
Fitz, for it was he, rushed out on the ice to greet me 
and to welcome me back. Oobloyah and Arklio were 
the others of the party, all of them our good friends, 
all glad to see us. 

They took charge of our dogs and sledges, the while 
our tongues wagged busily when our mouths were not 
filled with the fruit and cakes and other good things 
they pressed upon us. I was ^lad to talk American 
again, glad to hear that all was well at headquarters, 
glad to get all the news that Fitz gave me. 

The party had intended to meet us at Fort Conger, 
but, having encountered the open water at Cape Con- 
stitution, had wisely decided not to go beyond it. The 
open season was at hand, and it would not have been 
discreet to proceed, for, even if my party had been in 
difficulty, our situation would not have been bettered 
by the addition of still others unable to return. In- 
stead, Fitz planned to put in caches at prominent points 
along the return route. 

Had our party been a day later, we should not 
have found Fitz and his men at Cape Constitution. 
The hunting there was not good, whereas back 
at Cape Calhoun seals were numerous on the ice, and 



APPENDIX II 369 

bears not uncommoa, so they had decided to go 
there. 

We stayed a day at Cape Constitution. It was a 
merry party that headed back across Peabody Bay. 
The trip was pleasant, for the weather was fine, the 
going fairly good, and game abundant. In due time 
we reached Cape Kent, south of the Humboldt Glacier. 
We made no camp after reaching land until we got to 
the mouth of the Mary Minturn River. Here three 
Eskimo families were encamped on the site of an old 
Eskimo village, uninhabited so long that none of the 
tribe could remember when any one had lived there. 
We stayed there but a day to give our dogs rest, and 
me an opportunity to make a brief survey of the plants 
now beginning to bloom on the warm, sheltered ledges 
where the snow had melted. Apparently during the 
summer this village is a pleasant place, for the vegetation 
is luxuriant and the ruins of a number of large Eskimo 
stone houses attest the fact that many people have 
lived there at one time. 

But we were eager to get back, so we soon set out 
again. Stopping only at Rensselaer Harbor, to visit 
the site of Doctor Kane's expedition, in one march we 
traveled from this village to Anoritok, where many of 
our Etah Eskimos were encamped for the summer 
hunting-season. Jot had been there hunting until only 
a few days before, and Hal had been up to doctor a 
sick Eskimo, but they had gone home to Etah ahead 
of us. We stayed a day at Anoritok, and then started 
for home. 

It was the last day's march. At Lifeboat Cave, 
about ten miles from Etah as the crow flies, we went 
up overland. As we started up it began raining. 



370 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

Though our drive down the valley to the terrace above 
headquarters was in the worst weather we experienced 
on the trail, we did not mind it. We were veterans of 
the trail now, and weather did not seriously affect us. 

We almost tumbled down the slope to the house. Our 
dogs seemed more eager to get back than we were, and 
stopped for nothing. The whole village turned out to 
meet us, and it was not long until all my companions 
Mac, Tank, Hal, Jot, and Allen, and all the Eskimos, 
had greeted me and welcomed me home. I had come 
to the end of the trail. 

The trip had been eminently successful. We had ac- 
complished nearly all we had set out to do. In addition 
to my notes, I brought back with me valuable collections. 
None of us had suffered any serious hardships, we had 
lost very few of our dogs, and we had come safe and 
sound home. 

To old Esayoo I am glad to give the lion's share of 
the credit. Throughout the trip he had been cheerful, 
helpful, interested; his good sense and judgment had 
kept us out of trouble. He had been throughout the 
journey, no matter what the circumstances, a kind, 
pleasant companion. He is a thorough gentleman, a 
boon companion of the trail. To E-took-a-shoo I wish 
to give due credit, too. His unfailing good humor, his 
rare hunting ability, and his excellent driving, all had 
contributed immeasurably to our success. 

I wish to close my modest chronicle with this tribute 
to them, my good companions, true fellows of the trail, 
gentlemen unafraid. 



APPENDIX III 

ACROSS THE ICE-FIELDS OF MELVILLE BAT 
W. ELMER EKBLAW 

The Danmark, the second ship sent to our relief, 
lay frozen in the ice near North Star Bay during the 
winter of 1916-17. She had reached the harbor after 
mid-September, a month too late to insure a successful 
escape from the ice-barred reaches of Baffin Bay and 
Smith Sound. She could not get out of the ice before 
August the following year, and with a limited supply 
of coal, she might have difficulty even then in forcing 
her way through. 

Doctor Hunt and I had been aboard her from the 
time of her arrival. Her officers made us welcome, 
and as comfortable as limited quarters permitted. 
They were kind, courteous, and hospitable. Most of 
them could speak a little American, and knew enough 
of American customs and characteristics to play a good 
hand at friendly poker. Food was abundant, and the 
cooking good. 

But we were eager to be back on home lands once 
more, and with orders from Mac to proceed home by 
sledge that winter, we were glad when Knud Rasmussen, 
who had agreed to accompany us, sent us word very 



372 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

early the morning of December 18th that we should 
start that day for Danish Greenland. We had ex- 
pected to start earlier, but delay in the post from Etah, 
and a heavy wind and snowstorm, had kept us to the 
boat and the station. We had been ready for over a 
week to start at the word from Rasmussen that he 
wished to leave. 

Rasmussen had spent the month of November bear- 
hunting on Melville Bay, across which we would sledge 
from Cape York to the settlements in Danish Green- 
land. He had come back reporting good sledging, and 
much bear meat cached along the way, conditions fa- 
vorable to a rapid and easy traverse of the long ice-fields 
to cross the bay. He felt sure that we should spend 
Christmas in Tasiusak, the northernmost Danish station, 
and New Year's in TJpernavik, the home of the governor 
of the northernmost colonial district. 

Soon after his messenger brought us word that we 
should start that day, he himself came aboard the ship 
to see that all our arrangements were complete, and 
to get our baggage. The captain of the ship and his 
officers had arranged a farewell breakfast for us, and 
our departure was delayed until this had been eaten 
and all farewells said. 

Six sledges were to form our train to the Danish 
colonies, but when we left North Star Bay, five others 
set out with us to go as far as Parker Snow Bay to get 
some coal that the Cluett had left for Rasmussen's 
station the preceding summer. Among these five 
sledges was that of Doctor Wulff, the ill-fated Swedish 
ethnologist and botanist who has since perished of 
starvation in the far North. It was his first experience 
at driving dogs, and that night, when we made camp 



APPENDIX III 373 

at the mouth of Parker Snow Bay, though he did not 
come in until four hours after the rest, he pluckily kept 
the trail despite fog and darkness, until he reached his 
goal. 

Our entire party was encamped in two tents, rather 
crowded accommodations for so many, and we were 
glad when we left the next morning that we should no 
longer be so many the rest "of the way. From this camp 
only those sledges that were to go the whole distance 
continued the way; the rest loaded with coal and re- 
turned to North Star Bay. 

From Parker Snow Bay to the settlement at Cape 
York, the going was heavy, and the snow everywhere 
deep, often with water beneath it into which the sledges 
sank, and stuck so that the dogs could not pull them 
out unaided. Heavy flurries of snow, in which it was 
difficult to pick our way, further retarded our progress; 
though we left Parker Snow Bay at eleven o'clock in 
the morning, we did not get into Cape York until long 
after midnight. Ordinarily, with good going, the dis- 
tance could have been covered in half the time. 

We stayed at Cape York feeding our dogs and our- 
selves until midnight of the twenty-first. At the 
"breakfast" that I ate that morning soon after Ras- 
mussen had announced that we should start, I made 
way with seventeen whole raw dovekies, a gastronomic 
record for me. From Cape York we should find no 
Eskimo villages until we got to Cape Seddon, quite 
across the bay. 

The Eskimo reported heavy going ahead of us — much 
"pootenook," that is, heavy snow with water on the 
thin ice under it. We started away at four o'clock, and 
not long after we began to strike deep snow, as yet with 



374 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

no water beneatli. The weather was clear, calm, and 
crisply cold, with a temperature of more than 40 de- 
grees below zero, Fahrenheit. Because our dogs were 
fresh and rested, we made fairly good time, despite the 
deep snow, until we had passed Salvo Island. 

After we left that island, we soon struck the "poo- 
tenook," and the going was fearful. We waded through 
thin-crusted snow nearly two feet deep, the lower por- 
tion saturated with water, and we had to push the 
sledges along to help the dogs. Doctor Hunt and I tried 
our snow-shoes, but they helped us only in places. Such 
going, at such low temperature, soon wears out both 
dogs and men, and we had not gone far before we had 
to make camp. A low floeberg afforded us a camp-site 
out of the slush. 

The next day we got no farther than Camp Melville, 
the going all day having been through "pootenook." In 
four marches out from our camp at Cape Melville we 
made so little distance that in the dim noonday twilight 
we could still discern the black cliff, "Imnadooksuah," 
just to the east of the cape, and we wondered if we 
should ever leave it behind. 

Men and dogs were discouraged. Food was not 
abundant, and the going exceedingly hard and weari- 
some. The twenty-fourth day of December was par- 
ticularly hard. Doctor Hunt snow-shoed until the ten- 
dons in his ankles became chafed and inflamed, and he 
developed such a case of mal du racquette that he could 
hardly walk farther; I froze both my big toes, and 
wore two big sores on the back of my ankle where the 
thong in my boot passed across. A bitter cold wind 
blew down from the ice-cap to the northeast, and a chill 
damp snow-fog enveloped us as the afternoon wore on 



APPENDIX III 375 

and darkness submerged us. When time came to make 
camp, we could not find for a long time any iceberg in 
the lee of which to shelter our tents from the wind. 

When finally we found one we were well-nigh ex- 
hausted; in the heavy fur clothing that the bitter cold 
wind had necessitated during the march, I had per- 
spired until my clothes were wet through; and while 
we made camp I got so chilled that I was nearly over- 
come; I have never been so cold as I felt then. Even 
though we soon got our tents up and our little Primus 
stoves going, we were almost frozen. 

Such a Christmas Eve as that was! Huddled to- 
gether in our little tents that barely sufficed to keep the 
drifting snow out, we cooked the scant supply of bear 
meat and tea for our supper. Then Rasmussen pro- 
duced from his sledge-kit two boxes of canned pears 
that he divided among the party, and I brought forth 
a package of dates sent me in a gift box brought me 
from my fiancee by the Cluett the year before, which I 
had carefully saved for such an occasion. From our 
bear meat and tea, a little frozen pemmican, and the 
pears and dates, we made our Christmas supper. After 
we had cuddled down in our sleeping-bags, tired, and 
frozen, and worn, Tobias Gabrielsen, a Danish Green- 
lander in my tent, and I whistled "Stille Nacht, Heilige 
Nacht," which we both knew; then we exchanged 
Christmas greetings with the others of the party and 
fell asleep. 

The days following are a nightmare as I remember 
them. The going continued hard, the weather cold; 
our food-supply was almost exhausted, and our dogs 
were on less than half rations though they needed more 
than the usual amount of food because of the severe 



376 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

cold and the hard going. We were still many miles 
from Cape Seddon, when the evening of the twenty- 
eighth we were so near exhaustion, and failure of sup- 
plies, that Rasmussen deemed it necessary to adopt relief 
measures at once. Selecting two teams of the best dogs, 
and the two best drivers of the Eskimo to take him, he 
set out at midnight on a forced march to Cape Seddon 
to get relief. When he left, he told the rest of our 
party to remain where we were, until relief sledges 
which he promised to have out to us by daylight of the 
next day should reach us. Somewhat dubious of the 
plan, we agreed. 

The next day came and went, but no relief appeared. 
We had one scant meal, our dogs nothing. The situa- 
tion seemed threatening. About eight o'clock in the 
evening three of the Eskimos decided to go, before their 
dogs died. Hoping that the promised relief would 
reach us, I urged the Eskimos to wait at least until the 
following morning. I pointed out the fact that in the 
darkness of the night before Rasmussen and his men 
had probably lost their way for a while, and that if 
our party were to set out on their trail we should but 
be lost too. Better, I said, wait until the next day, 
when the twilight would give us light enough to see the 
land, at any rate; besides, the relief sledges might 
come while we waited. Finally I prevailed upon the 
Eskimos to wait until morning. At midnight I woke 
Doctor Hunt and told him of the discussions I had had 
with the Eskimos, and of my plans. He heartily ap- 
proved of the course that I had suggested to the Eskimos, 
and fell in cordially with our plans. 

At six o'clock the next morning we set out. We left 
everything behind us except one tent and the little 



APPENDIX III 377 

kerosene we had left. When twilight api>eared we saw 
at once that Rasmussen's party had headed out to sea; 
so we immediately shaped our course toward land. We 
could just descry Cape Seddon on the horizon. We felt 
sure that should relief sledges follow back over Ras- 
mussen's trail, they would know at once where to find 
us when they came to the place where we turned off, 
so we had no compunction about choosing our own new 
route. If none came we might reasonably hope to make 
Cape Seddon safely. 

It was a desperate trail that sledged its arduous way 
toward Cape Seddon. Our dogs were so weak they 
could hardly draw the empty sledges. The going was 
heavy. Cape Seddon seemed to retreat instead of com- 
ing to meet us. No relief sledges came. The forenoon 
went, and afternoon was already well spent when we 
heard a shout behind us, and we saw a new sledge 
rapidly overtaking us. It was Ootah's, sent out with 
two others to help us get back. It was laden with 
meat, which Ootah distributed as soon as he caught up 
with us. 

We made tea, boiled some meat for ourselves, and fed 
our dogs. From despair we passed to exultant delight; 
the danger and hardship were over, for that time at 
least. 

While we ate, two other sledges caught up with us. 
From Ootah and his companions we learned that Ras- 
mussen had but that day reached Cape Seddon, for he 
and his Eskimo had gone far out of their course before 
realizing that they were lost. Though they had headed 
at once toward the cape, they had been long getting 
into the settlement there. 

We reached Tooktooliksuah, the Eskimo village on 



378 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

Cape Seddon, at midnight. Some of the sledges did not 
get in for several hours later. Many of the dogs were so 
far gone that they died. Of one team of eight five died, 
and from other teams several of the dogs were lost. 

Instead of crossing Melville Bay in two or three days, 
as Rasmussen had expected, we had been en route ten 
days, ten days of bitter cold, grueling hard going for 
men and dogs, and constantly increasing fear that the 
trip might end disastrously. We had come to realize 
how efficient a barrier Melville Bay had been for cen- 
turies to intercourse between the Smith Sound Eskimo 
and those of Danish Greenland. 

We rested at Tooktooliksuah for two days before 
starting on our way. Though the Eskimo here were not 
abundantly supplied with meat they had sufficient for 
us and our dogs, and for supplies to take with us when 
we left. While in camp in the village I suffered an 
attack of nose-bleed, due to frosted lining of the nasal 
passages, that Doctor Hunt found it difficult to check; 
when finally he got my nose plugged tight enough to 
stop the bleeding, I had lost nearly a six-pound pemmi- 
can-canful of blood, and was weak as a sick cat. In all 
my Arctic experience I had not been in so disabled a 
condition — weak from loss of blood, both feet frozen 
and sore, both wrists frozen, and both heel-cords chafed 
deep. I was but a worn, broken specimen of Arctic 
explorer. 

A few days later we had reached Tasiusak, the north- 
ernmost Danish station; and a week after we left Cape 
Seddon we were in Upernavik, the capital of the colony, 
where we found civilization strongly intrenched in the 
homes of Governor Vinterberg, Pastor Rossen, and 
Doctor Bryder. 



APPENDIX III 379 

By all of them we were made welcome in the most 
cordial and hospitable way. They were exceedingly 
kind and courteous, and showed us every possible con- 
sideration as long as we were their guests. The memories 
of Upernavik and the good people there are among the 
pleasantest of the four years of the expedition. 



A SUMMER IN A DANISH GREENLAND TRADING-POST 

When Doctor Hunt and I reached South Upernavik, 
a little Danish trading outpost along the west coast of 
Greenland in latitude 72° 20' N., we were confronted 
by open water that prevented our continuing, at the 
time, our way further south, to a port where we might 
meet the first Danish steamer. For over a month we 
were forced to stay at the home of the factor waiting 
for colder weather and new ice. Such unfavorable 
conditions as those of January and February of 1917 
had not been known in midwinter for years — tempera- 
ture at freezing, rain and fog every few days, warm 
foehn winds, and open water far into the fjords; the 
Eskimo could kill little game, and because their re- 
serves were very small, they were soon on the verge of 
starvation. 

When finally cold weather came again and new ice 
formed on the fjords, the dogs in South Upernavik and 
the neighboring village, Proven, were in such wretched 
condition that it was next to impossible to obtain enough 
to take us on our farther way. Doctor Hunt and I 
agreed that for both of us to attempt to go might so 
retard our travel that neither would succeed. In such 
an eventuality, the messages we carried to America, 

25 



380 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

stating the conditions in which the Crocker Land Ex- 
j>edition found itself in the far North, and asking for 
continued efforts for rehef , might not be dehvered until 
too late. Hence we decided that, to insure with as 
much certainty as possible their prompt carriage to 
America, Doctor Hunt should obtain the best dogs and 
equipment available and go southward, while I stayed 
at South Upernavik to await relief after the ice went 
out and a ship could come to the station. 

February 16th Doctor Hunt left me, on his attempt 
to get to Holstensborg, where he might catch the Hans 
Egede, the regular mail- and passenger-steamer plying 
between Greenland and Denmark during the open 
season. Because of thin ice, he was forced to go by an 
entirely new route, directly back over the mountains. 
The story of his successful journey south is an epic, 
a record of success over incredible difficulties, and 
dauntless perseverance in the face of almost insur- 
mountable obstacles. 

My courage sank lower than it had been before in 
the Northland when he bade me good-by and sledged 
away. After he left me I was quite alone, with no 
certainty that my enforced stay in Greenland might not 
be prolonged several years; no certainty that I might 
not be dependent upon foreign hospitality, free and 
friendly though it be, for an indefinite time. I longed to 
be home again on native shores, to see my friends again. 

For a long time I watched him, until at last his sledges 
turned out of sight around a little point across the fjord. 
Then I turned back to the little sod-walled trading- 
station with a heart heavy despite the kind and re- 
assuring words of the factor, to begin a five months' 
wait for a means of getting home. 



APPENDIX III 381 

Hans Kintrup-Jensen, the factor at the station, who 
had urged upK)n me the advisabihty of staying with 
him until summer, and who had assured me that I was 
not only welcome to make his home my own, but that 
my staying with him could relieve the monotony of his 
days, at once set about making me forget that I was 
left behind, and planned all sorts of diversions by which 
the months were to pass like days. 

He was a Danish cooper who had come to Greenland 
twenty-three years before in the employ of the Royal 
Danish Trading Company, which holds a monopoly of 
all Greenland trade, and regulates, in large measure, 
the affairs of the colony. He had married an Eskimo 
woman, who died several years ago and who left him 
with six children — three girls and three boys. Though 
his salary has never been more than six hundred dollars, 
he has sent two children to Denmark for their educa- 
tion, and made a home for the other four, even after 
the death of their mother. 

He is a genial, exuberantly care-free fellow, up>on 
whom the responsibilities of his position sit lightly. 
Like most Danes, he is fond of ale, coffee, and tobacco, 
and keeps a goodly supply of all three; his fare, though 
simple, is abundant, and well cooked by his Eskimo 
servants. He is generous and hospitable to a fault. 
He rules the little village as despotically as a czar and 
dispenses the stores of his station as profitably as he 
can. Whenever the mood seizes him he gives a dance, 
to which favored Eskimos are invited and at which he 
himself cuts a prominent figure. He complains con- 
tinually of his hard work, but, except for a month or 
so in summer when he must work at his blubber-barrels, 
his duties as factor require but a few hours of each day. 



382 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

He made my stay at his home exceedingly pleasant and 
agreeable, sharing his home with me as if I were a 
member of his family. 

His house is a little three-room cottage, snug and 
comfortable, but poorly ventilated. While I stayed 
with him I slept in my sleeping-bag in his workshop, 
where I could get all the fresh air I wanted. The cot- 
tage is banl<:ed up with turf on all sides, so that the fierce 
Arctic winds cannot get at it. 

He keeps a retinue of six servants — three men to 
hunt for him and look after his dogs, and three women 
to cook for him, brew his ale, care for his clothes and 
children, and look after the house. 

To cook and brew satisfactorily for him is no light 
task, and I often marveled at the patience and tact 
that Pauletta, his little, rotund, moon-faced Eskimo 
cook, displayed in the management of her master and 
his household. From early morning until late at night 
she was busy as could be. We had three regular meals 
a day, besides luncheons innumerable. The luncheons 
were almost invariably ale, black coffee, and raisin cake, 
all good. Pauletta kept the coffee-pot boiling all day 
long; three times a week, at least, sometimes oftener, 
she baked rye bread and raisin cake; every two weeks 
she brewed ale; besides, she cooked all the meals and 
supervised all the activities of the household. She was 
really highly efficient, and when the master of the house 
took her to task for some minor neglect of her duty 
I could not help feeling sorry for her. 

Her little kitchen was always crowded. The chil- 
dren and many servants were ever in her way. When- 
ever the hunters brought in seal, the animals were 
thawed out and skinned, drawn and quartered, in the 



APPENDIX III 383 

kitchen. Her two assistants were usually not of much 
help, often a direct hindrance. Few cooks have to 
work under such difficulties, yet Pauletta was always 
willing, always cheerful, always ready to help some 
one else at his task in addition to her own. 

The children are well-behaved. Three were home 
during my stay at the house. One, the eldest of the 
three, is a pretty girl, fifteen years of age, but wild and 
frivolous as an Eskimo, little help in the house. Leo, 
a spoiled lad of eight or nine, rules the household, even 
his father, when he chooses. His thin lips, tight closed, 
show how cruel and stern he may become in time. 
Esther, the baby of the family, is a typical little golden- 
haired, blue-eyed Danish lass as pretty as a picture and 
as girlish as if she had not a trace of Eskimo blood in 
her. In all her ways and in her temperament and 
character she is Dane rather than Eskimo. 

During the five months of my stay there I was not 
once reminded by word or deed that I was almost a 
self-imposed guest or that my stay there made serious 
inroads upon the meager supply of Danish provisions, 
such as butter, sugar, and canned goods, in the larder. 
No matter how trying the day, how gloomy the pros- 
pect, the entire household were kind to me and thought- 
ful of my comfort. 

I obtained a team of eight dogs and bought a sledge 
from my host. With this equipment I was able to 
sledge about the colony whenever conditions permitted. 

After I had begun sledging I was about home but 
little. Most of the time I was out seal-hunting. As 
soon as the season opened I set a line of eight seal-nets, 
which I had to visit every other day, and two shark- 
lines that I had to attend carefully. I caught almost 



384 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

twoscore seals and half a hundred sharks during the 
season. 

This catching seals in nets is not practised by the 
Eskimos of the Smith Sound tribe, but in Danish Green- 
land the Eskimos use the method assiduously through- 
out the length of the coast every fall and spring. It is 
practicable only when, at least for part of the day, not 
enough light passes through the ice to permit the seals 
seeing the nets hanging downward into the water. 

The nets are about fifteen feet long and eight feet 
wide, with a six-inch mesh. They are made of strong 
twine. They are suspended underneath the ice, across 
some lead which the seals follow to and fro to find 
openings to come up to the surface to breathe. The 
Eskimos dig holes in the ice, through which they hang 
the nets at right angles to the lead. To dig these holes 
and to keep them open requires considerable time and 
work. Even the most active and industrious of the 
Eskimos finds it hard to care properly for more than 
sixteen nets. 

In the most favorable season an Eskimo often finds 
half a dozen, or even more, seals in his net each day, 
and then he lives well indeed, for he uses the meat for 
food and exchanges the skin and blubber with the 
trader for sugar, coffee, oatmeal, rye flour, tobacco, 
cloth, ammunition, or some of the other commodities 
he can obtain. Often, however, unfavorable ice con- 
ditions prevail and the catch of seals is small, occasioning 
poverty, malnutrition, and even starvation. When, as 
sometimes happens, the ice goes out, carrying all the 
nets with it, the loss is so heavy that the Eskimos 
incur debts to the station to such an extent that they 
require years to discharge them. 



APPENDIX III 385 

The shark fishery is an unusual industry and, to 
a stranger in the country, most interesting. The sharl- 
caught is the sluggish sleeper-shark, of which the live 
yields a fine oil much used in illumination. On favoi 
able banks along the entire coast of Greenland the in 
dustry is well established, and thousands of pounds ol 
shark-liver oil are obtained annually. The fishery be- 
gins in April and continues until the ice goes out; even 
afterward large numbers may be caught from a boat. 

The sharks are caught on large hooks suspended 
through the ice on lines of strong wrapping-twine long 
enough to reach almost to the bottom. The line seems 
ridiculously light to catch these animals, some of which 
measure fifteen or twenty feet in length and weigh over 
a thousand pounds. The sharks are so sluggish, how- 
ever, that they offer no resistance whatever to being 
hauled up and pulled out on the ice. To prevent the 
sharks biting the line through and escaping, the hook 
is attached by a swivel directly to a thin iron bar, and 
this bar to a light chain about ten feet long. The twine 
is double for about fifty feet of its lower end, so that it 
will not so easily chafe in two against submerged rocks 
or ledges. 

The hook is baited with seal entrails, seal heads, or 
codfish. The shark, though sluggish, is voracious, and 
gulps down the whole bait, hook, and often part of the 
bar. Not uncommonly it happens that when a small 
shark has been caught on the hook, a larger one comes 
along and swallows the smaller already impaled. When 
the sharks are cut up to take out the liver, all kinds of 
things are found in their stomachs — pieces of seal, of 
walrus, strange fish, and even parts of human beings. 

At South Upernavik the shark fishery is not very 



386 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

profitable, for the sharks are few and small; but at 
Proven, the neighboring village to the north, hundreds, 
even thousands, are caught each year. Generally the 
liver is the only part used. In times of stress, however, 
the meat is dried for dog food. As dog food, shark 
meat is not very desirable, for, unless it be very care- 
fully dried, the dogs become intoxicated after eating 
it, and for several hours are too drunk to pull a sledge. 

In addition to hunting seals and catching sharks, I 
went caribou-hunting with Herr Neilsen, the factor at 
Proven; twice went to Upernavik to pay my respects 
to Governor Vinterberg and to visit him and his family 
and the rest of the Danes there; and whenever I could 
I went for long drives along the coast. Because the 
snowfall was unusually heavy I could do no scientific 
work in my own fields. At the end of May the snow 
was still nearly ten feet deep in places, and over five 
feet deep on the level. When I leii South Upernavik 
in mid-July, great drifts and fields of snow lay scattered 
about the mountains still. 

I learned to like the Eskimos of the little village very 
much. Their lot is a hard one, yet they are ever cheer- 
ful, ever happy, and nearly always hopeful. Consump- 
tion is rampant among them, and I think that over 
half the deaths are from this dread disease. The 
Danish doctors are doing their utmost to combat the 
plague, but with little success, for the conditions and 
habits of living are conducive in the extreme to the 
continuance and spread of the disease. The little sod- 
walled houses, overcrowded, ill-ventilated, usually lighted 
with only one tiny window, are almost ideal culture- 
ground for the germ of the disease. Nothing is more 
pathetic than to see the little diseased children, some 



APPENDIX III 387 

with pulmonary tuberculosis, some with tuberculosis of 
the bones, nearly all with some form or another, few of 
them with hope of ever becoming strong, well-developed 
men and women. 

The summer was half gone when the ice began to go 
out. Every day we watched for the ship, but it was 
not until mid-July that Inspector Lindow of Godhavn, 
the chief magistrate of northern Greenland, picked me 
up when he made the rounds of his inspectorate in his 
motor-boat; and after taking me on a visit to Uper- 
navik. Proven, and Nuksuah, carried me to Godhavn, 
where I stayed with Manager Porsild, director of the 
Danish Arctic Station. For a month I reveled in 
the treasuries of Herr Porsild 's splendid library and well- 
equipped laboratory, and of the interesting flora of the 
hot springs area near the village. As everywhere else 
along the coast, I found at Godhavn the exquisite 
courtesy and generous hospitality that characterize the 
Danes throughout Greenland. In mid-August I bade 
good-by to the kind people of the little village and 
steamed away. With the arrival of Captain Bartlett 
in the Neptune my stay in the Northland was ended. 



APPENDIX IV 

THE VISIT TO THE METEORITE 
W. ELMER EKBLAW 

Arctic midnight was only a week or ten days past 
when Mac told me one evening to make ready to go to 
examine Rasmussen's meteorite on the shores of Mel- 
ville Bay, some two hundred miles from Etah. The 
order came as a surprise to me, for. though I had wished 
to see the "ironstone" ever since I had first heard of 
it from the Eskimos, I had felt that perhaps the prepara- 
tions for our impending dash for Crocker Land would 
preclude the possibility of using time and dogs for any 
subordinate purpose. Hence, I was much pleased that 
I might go, for, after having seen the great meteorites 
in the American Museum of Natural History in New 
York, the great rusty blocks of iron brought home by 
Peary, I was curious to examine others "on their native 
heath." 

The Rasmussen meteorite had long been sought by the 
Eskimos, who knew by tradition that it lay somewhere 
on Ironside Mountain; the exact locality had been for- 
gotten since the time its metal had ceased to be one of 
their sources of iron for knife-blades, before the white 
man came with a more abundant and more convenient 



APPENDIX IV S83 

supply. They had been incited to more vigorous search 
by the promise of a Hberal reward to the finder by 
Knud Rasmussen, the Danish explorer, who maintains 
a trading-station at North Star Bay. 

Under the incentive of this promised reward, Kood- 
looktoo, one of Peary's boys, had found the great ingot. 

Our party heard of the discovery of the meteorite 
almost as soon as our first visitors came to Borup Lodge, 
our headquarters; and not long after, Koodlooktoo 
came himself to tell us more of it. He said that he had 
found it the preceding summer; while out sealing in 
his kayak he had landed at the foot of the mountain to 
hunt hares, and afterward had gone to the top to look 
for the meteorite, with unexpected success. He had 
almost fallen over the stone. 

Koodlooktoo expected to return about the 1st of 
January to his home on Cape Melville, not far from the 
meteorite, and, since New- Year's day was not far off, 
Mac told me to begin at once getting my clothing and 
equipment ready to accompany him when he left. 
Because I had been out on two short expeditions across 
Smith Sound early in December, my traveling equip- 
ment was almost complete and I had learned, in a meas- 
ure, what to take with me and what to leave behind. 

When the time came to start. Jot, our cook, thinking 
that I should need a good square meal to sustain me 
through the first march, scrambled a big panful of eight 
eider's eggs which I ate in addition to my regular break- 
fast. Our party set out soon after, but a heavy wind 
off the land at Cape Alexander drove us back, and we 
waited until the next day. 

Again Jot cooked a big panful of eggs for me, again 
we set out, and again the wind drove us back; three 



390 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

times we repeated this, until, the fourth morning. Jot 
declared that he had cooked me scrambled eggs long 
enough, and if I came back again I should have' to 
start without them the next time. He averred that our 
stock of eggs was not inexhaustible, and, besides, if I 
ate a few more eggs I should be so heavy that the dogs 
could not pull my sledge. I could risk no such event- 
uality, and on the fourth morning I got off without 
having to turn back. 

We sledged over the Cape Alexander glacier to Nerkre, 
where we stopped to sleep. Our march had seemed very 
short to me, for we had been a merry company; our dogs 
were fresh and strong, the going was good, and the ex- 
perience novel, to me at least. Though not even a 
flush of light appeared on the southern horizon at noon- 
day, the starlight reflected from the frost-flowers on the 
new-frozen ice gave us light enough to travel by. While 
crossing Smith Sound I had already ridden over thin, 
rubbery ice that bent under the sledges, so I was not 
alarmed when, south of Cape Alexander, we traversed 
several miles over ice so springy that it sank beneath 
the weight of the foot. 

At Nerkre we were warmly welcomed by the whole 
population of perhaps thirty people. I elected to stay in 
Inighito's big igloo, for Mac, who had been in the vil- 
lage before, had told me that Tookey, Inighito's wife, 
kept it spik-and-span clean. 

And so I found it; as a matter of fact, many igloos 
are very clean; to quote Knud Rasmussen, "dirt and 
cleanliness are only relative, anyway." Of course, 
there are slovens among the Eskimo women as well as 
among those of other peoples, but as a rule the people 
are cleanly, when one considers that water is difficult 



APPENDIX IV 391 

to obtain and soap and cloth are almost entirely wanting. 
A dirty igloo is about as dirty as anything can be. 

After a good night's sleep in Tookey's igloo — by the 
way, an igloo is always spoken of as belonging to the 
wife, who is supposed to govern within its walls — I set 
out again. At my earnest solicitation, Oobloyah, one of 
Peary's most efl&cient men in previous expeditions, chose 
to accompany me to the meteorite. He had a big strong 
team of dogs that could easily take me there and back. 
We followed the inside route into Inglefield Gulf to the 
mouth of Olrik's Bay, where we crossed over the glacier 
to the head of Grenville Bay, instead of going out be- 
yond Cape Parry. In one march we sledged from Olrik's 
Bay, over the ice-cap, down Grenville Bay, and up 
Wolstenholme Sound, to the Danish trading-station at 
North Star Bay, a distance of about eighty miles, in 
a little over twenty-two hours. I think I had never in 
my life been so hungry as I was when I got into North 
Star Bay, though later experiences brought me a great 
deal nearer starvation. 

When we reached the Eskimo igloos, Koodlooktoo 
told me, in perfectly good English, that Rasmussen had 
just got in from Upernavik, and since he would probably 
leave again that day I ought to go down to call upon 
him at once. Almost too tired, sleepy, and hungry to 
care, I waited until I had had my tea and walrus meat 
before going across the cape to Rasmussen's house. 
Time doesn't count for much in Eskimo-land, especially 
in winter, when it is night all the day long, anyway, 
so, though it was ten o'clock in the morning, no one was 
awake when I got to the station. 

I entered the vestibule and knocked at the door to 
the room which the Eskimos told me was Rasmussen's. 



S92 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

A sleepy "Kanno" answered my knock, and when, in 
response, I threw open the door and greeted him in 
perfectly good Swedish, Rasmussen could hardly believe 
his ears; his eyes were too full of sleep to detect any one 
but a rather large-sized Eskimo dressed in regular Eskimo 
costume. When finally he comprehended that his visitor 
was a white man he jumped out of bed, grasped my hand 
with his firm, cordial clasp, and made me welcome in the 
most approved Scandinavian fashion. In a moment he 
had given orders to have coffee made; in another mo- 
ment or two it was done, and while we sipped the hot, 
strong, black coffee such as a Scandinavian loves, our 
tongues wagged so fast that the Eskimos later said they 
had never heard the like. 

Both of us were pleased to meet each other, both of 
us were excited, and botn of us had a thousand eager 
questions to ask. When I told him the object of my 
journey he at once suggested that I stay with him two 
or three days, that his dogs might rest a little from their 
long trip up from Danish Greenland, and he would 
accompany me when I set out again. Nothing loath to 
accept such boon companionship, I promptly decided 
to fall in with his suggestion, all the more willingly since 
my own Eskimos seemed reluctant to proceed at once. 

The days at the station passed pleasantly and all too 
quickly. We ate and talked, and talked and ate, and 
then repeated. I never drank such good coffee or ate 
such fine bear steak as I got there every few hours. 
Hendrik Olsen, Rasmussen's all-round handy man, was 
an expert at making coffee, and proud and pleased at 
my telling him so, he kept the coffee-pot going most of 
the time. In the few hours when I was not talking or 
eating or sleeping I browsed over Rasmussen's well- 



APPENDIX IV S93 

stocked library. I found time to reread most of Byron's 
"Don Juan" and Kipling's Jungle Tales. Rasmussen is 
an omnivorous reader, his favorite sledge-companion 
being Xenophon's Anabasis, in the original Greek. 
When we set out together for the meteorite, he put 
this volume in his sledge-bag, while I carried with me 
a copy of Tegner's Fridtjofs Saga. 

We left North Star Bay with a dash. Rasmussen, 
with some Eskimo blood in his veins, and reared to 
adolescence in Danish Greenland, is a born dog-driver, 
and with his eight big husky dogs he led the way. We 
sped along rapidly over the firm, smooth ice, and in the 
course of about eight hours reached the bear-cave near 
Petowik glacier, where we stopped for rest and coffee. 
The bear-cave is a historical place among the Eskimos, 
a kind of half-way station between Akpan and Oomenak 
— that is, between Conical Rock and North Star Bay. 
All kinds of adventures are related as having happened 
there in days gone by, and when I entered in through 
the low, dark passage I did not wonder that the Eskimos 
regarded the cave with considerable superstition, that it 
occupied a prominent place in their legends and tradi- 
tions. They keep a stone lamp, moss for wick, blubber 
for oil, and other conveniences for those who stop there 
when traveling. 

From the bear-cave to Akpan, where we stopped at 
Koolootingwa's igloo, seemed a short ride indeed. Be- 
cause Koolootingwa and his family lived alone here, his 
one igloo furnished shelter for his household, our party 
of half a dozen, and another party who had come in 
from the east, a total of nineteen people. When the 
time came to sleep we packed together like a big litter 
of kittens. Koolootingwa maintained his reputation as 



394 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

one of tlie most successful hunters of the tribe, for he 
brought forth a large supply of bear meat, walrus, seal, 
birds, narwhal blubber, and all the other delicacies of 
the Eskimo larder, on which we gorged ourselves to 
maintain our reputations as successful eaters. I made 
rapid progress in adapting myself to the food of the 
land, for the morning of our departure I managed to 
make away with a piece of blubber at least five pounds 
in weight; by so doing I won the approbation of all 
present, including Rasmussen. 

Another long march from Akpan to Savikseevik, with 
a brief visit at the settlement on Cape York, brought 
us to the viE^ge nearest the meteorite. Savikseevik is 
a village of three igloos, not far from the place where 
Peary obtained the largest of his meteorites; the name 
means in Eskimo "the place where the ironstone is 
missing." We rested from the afternoon of one day until 
the forenoon of the next before going to the Rasmussen 
meteorite. 

The drivers of Savikseevik took us to Ironstone 
Mountain. The way thither led over snow-drifted, 
hummocky, old ice that had lain in the bay for a number 
of years; bear tracks, old and fresh, formed a veritable 
network over the whole expanse, but we saw none of 
the monarchs of the ice-fields. We reached the foot of 
the mountain just at noonday. We tied our dogs secure- 
ly to the ice-foot and started up the steep slope. 

We tramped about a mile and a half or two miles be- 
fore we came to the mountain-top upon which the 
meteorite lay. The Eskimos soon found the pillar-like 
boulder of white gneiss that Koodlooktoo had set up to 
mark the meteorite; the meteorite itself, a large rusty 
block of nickel-iron alloy, was buried deep under the 



APPENDIX IV 395 

snow. We had carried with us a shovel to clear away 
the snow, a lantern to light us at our work, a Primus 
stove and kerosene with which to make coffee, and tools 
to cut off a sample of the iron. While the Eskimos built 
a little shelter of snow blocks to protect us from the 
piercing wind and made a pot of hot coffee, Rasmussen 
and I uncovered the meteorite and measured it. When 
we tried to get some samples of the meteorite we found 
our efforts almost futile, for in the intense cold — the 
thermometer registered 52° F. below zero — our chisels 
and hacksaws and hammers all broke against the chill 
iron, which, though soft, was tough. Only by using the 
heavy sledge-hammer could we finally obtain even a 
small sample. We collected, also, a number of sharp- 
edged slabs of basalt that the Eskimos had used in 
former generations to cut off the little flakes of iron that 
they made into their little serrated knife-blades. 

I shall not soon forget the scene of our labors that 
day. The sky was clear as only far Arctic skies can be, 
thick-set with the thousands of brilliant stars. In the 
north a full moon shone over the lonely far-reaching 
Greenland ice-cap, and Saturn, in alignment with the 
heavenly twins. Castor and Pollux, raced toward the fair 
realms of the wonderful Hyades. 

To the south lay the iceberg-studded fields of Melville 
Bay, gleaming white in the bright moonlight. The black 
cliffs of Cape Melville loomed dark on the far eastern 
horizon, and to the west tlie forbidding walls of Bush- 
man Island rose stern and grim. 

It was a passing unusual scene, unique in the annals 
of the North, an adventure worthy of a saga, this our 
visit to the mighty, lost hammer of old discarded Thor. 
Scandinavians both, though one came from the Old 

26 



396 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

World and one from the New, we felt a like interest in 
this massive ingot forged in interstellar space, which we 
fancied had perhaps been flung from Valhalla before the 
days of iconoclastic science. As we were deeply en- 
gaged in our discussion on the possible origin of this 
vagrant planetesimal the coffee-pot boiled over; with 
little regret our thoughts swung back from the realms 
of celestial speculation where they had been wandering, 
to mundane reality. 

We had visited the meteorite. 



APPENDIX V 

THE VEGETATION ABOUT BORUP LODGE 



W. ELMER EKBLAW 



That such a relatively luxuriant vegetation as that 
which is found about our headquarters in Northwest 
Greenland can grow so near the Pole surprises and in- 
terests most people who learn of the green patches of 
dandelion, the smiling fields of golden poppies, and the 
verdant slopes of lush blue-grass, flourishing almost a 
thousand miles within the Arctic circle. That mush- 
rooms as wide as dinner-plates and as delicious as our 
meadow mushrooms; that ferns as dainty and as beau- 
tiful as those of our mountain woods; that buttercups 
as bright and glistening as those of our prairie stream- 
banks; that bluebells and rhododendron and heather 
and many others — all find in the continuous sunshine of 
the Arctic summer sufficient heat and light not only to 
grow, but to thrive, and to reproduce themselves, 
amazes almost every one but the professional botanist. 

True, it is only in favorable spots that all these 
plants grow, but, even so, there are few areas so rocky, 
or so cold, or so wind-swept, that not any plants can 
find a place for themselves. If nothing else grows, the 
lichens, at least, are sure to cover the rocks. But almost 



398 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

everywhere some of the hardier flowers or grasses ap- 
pear, sometimes dwarfed, it is true, but vigorous, for 
all that. 

Within the limits of Northwest Greenland — that is, 
between the great glaciers of Melville Bay on the south 
and the Humboldt Glacier on the north — I collected 
over one hundred and twenty-five species of vascular 
plants. A number of these had before been recorded 
from this area, and one had not before been found in 
Greenland. This last, Androsace septentrionalis, a deli- 
cai<^, inconspicuous little flower, I found growing on a 
gravel slope within a hundred yards of Borup Lodge. 
The mushrooms are not numerous, but the lichens are 
legion. 

The forests pf that far Northland do not appreciably 
obstruct the view, nor does the shrubbery afford much 
cover. The biggest trees do not rise more than three 
inches above the rocks on which they grow, even though 
their branches may spread over a square yard of sur- 
face, and the biggest shrub grows hardly so large as a 
croquet ball. The commoner trees are the Arctic willow 
(Salix arctica), the little two- or three-leaved willow 
(Salix herbacea), and the tiny dwarf birch {Betula nana). 
In fact, there are no others. Some of the Arctic willow, 
though over fifty years old, have a stem no thicker than 
my little finger. Salix herbacea is tiny indeed, rarelv 
more than a half -inch high. , 

Of shrubs the most interesting is the Lapland rhodo- 
dendron (Rhododendron lapponicun). On a few shel- 
tered slopes, where the sun shines warm and the snow 
does not lie too long, this little bush blooms profusely, 
its tiny twigs set with numerous little rose-purple blos- 
soms scarcely a quarter of an inch wide. Two species 



APPENDIX V 399 

of cranberry {Myrtillus uliginosa and Vaccinium viti- 
sidcea) neither fruiting except in unusually favorable 
seasons, grow in the area, though the latter is rare. 
The curlew-berry (Empetrum nigrum) blooms on sunny 
heaths in some deep fjords, but rarely sets fruit. 

The trees and shrubs, if they may be called such, are 
generally found on the Arctic heaths, where they asso- 
ciate with other plants partial to warm, sunny slopes. 
The golden northern arnica (Arnica alpina), so like a 
diminutive sunflower in its habits and appearance; the 
woolly catspaw (Antennaria alpina), for all the world 
resembling its cousins of the Southland; the tiny Arctic 
bluebell (Campanula uniflora), dainty and gentian blue; 
the delicate pink-and- white shinleaf (Pyrola rotundifolia) ; 
and the pretty dark-purple grass (Trisetum spicatum), 
are conspicuous members of this heath-forming group, 
of which the creamy white bell-flowered andromeda 
(Cassiope tetragona) is the characteristic flower. 

The cress family is represented by sixteen species, of 
which the most are white-flowered; one of the excep- 
tions is the purple rocket (Hesperis pallasii) fragrant with 
the odor of wild plum blossoms, the only really fragrant 
flower about Etah. The rose family is represented by 
six or seven species; one of them, Dry as integrifolia, is 
perhaps the commonest flower in all the North, because 
its starry white blossom is found nearly everywhere and 
during the whole summer season. The rest of the rose 
family are the cinquefoils (Potentillae), of which Vahl's 
(Potentilla vahliana) forms golden carpets on some of 
the sunnier, drier, morainal slopes. Ten saxifrages find 
a home in the environs of Etah, and of these the pur- 
ple saxifrage (Saxifrage oppositifolia) is generally the ear- 
liest of all the Arctic flowers to open into blossom. As 



400 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

soon as the snow melts to leave a sj>ot of rock or soil ex- 
posed, the purple saxifrage bursts into bloom. It is no 
uncommon sight to see a pennant of its pure purple 
flashing between great drifts of snow. 

The dandelions about our lodge at Etah are note- 
worthy. In addition to several species of the yellow, 
a delicate form {Taraxacum arctogenum), white with 
pink border, known from no other place in the world, 
grows luxuriant. Other compositae that are not uncom- 
mon were Erigeron uniflouns and E. compositus, two 
very pretty plants especially fond of warm gravelly 
slopes. 

The brightest, bravest flower of all the Northland is 
the cheery Arctic poppy (Papaver radicatum). Up to 
the farthest north point of land yet attained, this sturdy 
flower maintains itself against the snow and ice; no 
coast is too desolate, no mountain too bleak, to sustain 
it; the coldest winds, the fiercest snows, do not daunt 
it. It grows in profusion on the delta about our lodge, 
and on the stream-side meadows back in the mountains 
whole fields blaze throughout the summer. The poppy 
should be the national flower of Eskimo-land, the land 
of Ultima Thule! 

Grasses grow in abundance. The characteristic grass 
of the slopes where the dovekie nests, and of other fer- 
tile places, is the so-called Arctic timothy (Alopecurus 
alpinus) that plays so important a part in the domestic 
economy of the Eskimo — as padding between stocking 
and boot, as mattress under the skins on the bed plat- 
form, and as dish-cloth and towel in lieu of anything 
else to use for the purpose. Numerous blue-grasses grow 
in Greenland, but about Etah one of the commonest 
forms is the plain, ordinary, garden variety of Kentucky 




ARCTIC POPPY (PAPAVER RADICATUM) AND ARNICA (aRNICA ALPINA) 



APPENDIX V 401 

blue grass (Poapratensis) , as lush as in the pasture about 
Lexington. The grasses cannot be left without mention 
of the beautiful little monotypie genus Pleurojpogon 
sabinei, growing in shallow pools among the rocks, its 
tiny heads flung out like little rosy flags. 

And besides these there are downy, white, cotton- 
grass (Eriopkorum polystachium and E. scheuchzeri) and 
reeds (Juncus and Luzula) about every pool and along 
every swale; sedges {Car ex), at least twelve species, 
some on dry hills, some along the salt seashore, some 
in wet pools — everywhere, in fact; club-moss {Ly co- 
podium selago), not common, but widely scattered; and 
scouring-rush {Equisetum arvense and E. variegatum) , 
not so large as of our land, but still typical of the 
genus. 

Four ferns grow on the rock ledges. Aspidium 
fragrans, a sweet-smelling fern of drier ledges, is com- 
mon on the sunny terraces just above Borup Lodge. 
Cystopteris fragilis is the commonest fern throughout 
Northwest Greenland. It grows most abundant and 
luxuriant in moist crevices on steep cliffs. Woodsia- 
glabella is a Lilliputian fern, not an inch high, and 
Woodsia ilvensis is not much larger. 

As soon as the snow begins to melt, the plants begin 
to blossom. The first flowers at Etah usually open a 
few days before the 1st of June, a month and a half after 
the midnight sun has begun. Some species are often 
retarded by the heavy summer snows, so that they hard- 
ly have time to blossom at all, for the killing frosts begin 
to come about two weeks before the last midnight sun. 
Even before the 1st of August the autumnal yellows and 
tans and browns come, and growth is at an end. The 
season of life is brief, indeed, but under the daily bright 



402 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

twenty-four-hour sun the Arctic plants, nearly all like 
those of our early spring, come to rapid maturity. 

Though all these plants grow rather luxuriantly about 
our lodge, they scarcely begin to hide the nakedness of 
the rugged slopes and rocky cliffs and plateaus; yet to 
us who lived among them for four years they are as 
beautiful and dear as our trees and shrubs and grasses 
and flowers of the Southland. They grow bravely in the 
face of almost impossible conditions, courageous guar- 
dians of life in the cold, killing North. 



APPENDIX VI 

ORNITHOLOGY 

D. B. MACMILLAN 

Gavia immer. Loon. Great Northern Diver. Rarely 
seen in vicinity of Etah. Recognized by three members 
of the expedition on July 7, 1914. No specimens or eggs 
secured. 

Gavia stellata. Red-throated loon. Wabby. Cobble. 
Eskimo name, Kak-sau. Common. Found breeding in 
lakes on northern shores of Grant Land at 82° 30' N. 
Fratercula arctica naumanni. Large-billed puffin. I have 
never seen this bird north of Cape Hatherton, 78° 30'. 
Breeds upon Hakluyt Island, 77° 30'. 
Cepphus mandti. Mandt's guillemot. Sea-pigeon. Eski- 
mo name, Silgh-wha. Very common. Breeds from Cape 
York, 76° N., to Cape Union, 82° 18' N. Nests in 
cracks of cliffs from water edge to height of 800 feet. 
Eggs, 1-2. June 10th. Etah. Young in water August 
10th. Seen every month in the year in open water be- 
tween 76° and 78° 45' N. Ten were seen by my party 
when crossing Smith Sound on February 14, 1914, when 
the temperature was — 54° F. 

Uria lomvia lomvia. Brunnich's murre. Eskimo name. 
Ark-pa. Large numbers off Etah June, July, and August. 
I do not know of this bird breeding north of Hakluyt 
Island, 77° 30'. Reported by Bessels north of 81° as 
"quite abundant and nestinr." 



404 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

6. Alle alle. Dovekie. Sea-dove. Little auk. Bull-bird. 
Ice-bird. Rotge. Rotchie. Rotch. Sea King. Eskimo 
name, Arq-pud-e-arq. Breeds from 68° N. to Anoritok, 
78° 40' N. Arrives Etah May 15th. Nests in crevices 
of sea cliffs in company with guillemots, in the rock debris 
at base of a cliff, or on slope bordering the sea, bay, lake, 
or river-bed; even found inland at distance of a mile 
and at height of 1,000 feet. Eggs, 1, weight one ounce. 
Date, June 18th. Two eggs occasionally found in nest. 
That these are not the eggs of two birds is shown by the 
fact that two well-developed eggs are often found in the 
body of a bird. Young obtained from nest July 21st. 
Seen swimming August 14th. Average weight, 5.2 oz. 
Nests among rocks of talus consisting of pebbles and few 
bits of dried grass. 

7. Stercorarius parasiticus. Parasitic jaeger. Bosun-bird. 
Teaser. Jiddy hawk. Skua gull. Eskimo name, E-shing- 
wa. I saw this species when sledging along eastern shore 
of Grant Land in latitude 82° N. The swift and very 
bold attack led to the discovery of one nest containing 
two eggs, distant some twenty yards from the ice-foot. 
The nest was simply a slight depression in a dark-reddish 
gravelly soil. 

8. Stercorarius longicaudus. Long-tailed jaeger. Buffon's 
skua. Very common at Etah and as far north as 83°. 

9. Pagophila alba. Ivory gull. Ice-partridge. Eskimo 
name, Now-ya-wah-o. Very common in Smith Sound 
and as far north as 82° 30'. Fully formed egg obtained 
from body of bird June 30, 1914. Breeds on cliffs on 
eastern side of Kennedy Channel from 79° to 80° N. 
Feeds largely upon the excrement of seals and walrus. 
I have never seen this bird in the water. Whenever we 
cut up walrus upon the drift ice of Smith Sound the ivory 
gull appeared, and, alighting within a few yards, awaited 
patiently for its share of the meat. The young were seen 



APPENDIX VI 405 

in September with dark markings on breast and upon tail 
feathers. 

10, Rissa tridactyla tridactyla. Kittiwake. Eskimo name, 
Tah-tah-ra. Common as far north as 82° 30'. Breeds 
at numerous locaUties in Smith Sound, but not north of 
Etah, 78° 20'. Associated with the kittiwake, there is a 
peeuhar custom among the Smith Sound Eskimos. In 
former years the head of this bird was sewn into the 
clothes of a female child. Worn as an amulet, it would 
insure giving birth to small children, as the egg of the 
bird is small in proportion to its size. 

11. Larushyperboreus. Glaucous gull. Burgomaster. Eskimo 
name, Now-ya. Most common gull in Smith Sound. 
Breeds on cliffs throughout whole extent of coast-line from 
Cape York, 76° N., to 82° 30' N. Arrived at Etah May 
10th, 1914; May 7, 1915; May 13, 1916; May 15, 1917. 
Upon ledges and islands, where in general there is need of 
no protection from foxes, nests are placed among those of 
eider ducks and easily accessible. Upon the mainland we 
find them upon cliffs, often inaccessible, to the height of 
1,000 feet. The tops of isolated or outstanding pillars, 
sometimes called "chimney rocks," are always preferred 
to narrow ledges. In nests are sometimes found one 
brant or one eider duck's egg. Old nests are remade by 
being pulled apart and new material added, such as grass 
and moss. Time of laying depends much upon snowfall 
and dry condition of nest. I found eggs hatching on July 
1st at Etah. Ten feet away there was a nest containing 
eggs perfectly fresh. Eggs, 2-3. June 8, 1917. 

Young leave nest August 18th-31st. Old birds leave 
Etah and vicinity about September 1st. Young congre- 
gate and remain feeding at mouth of streams until October 
31st. The glaucous gulls feed upon dovekies, eider eggs, 
young eiders, lemming, sculpin, and trout. Dovekies, or 
little auks, are often seized in mid-air and swallowed whole 



406 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

into the lower throat. Here the bird remains until the 
flesh is digested. The pellet, consisting of head, feet, 
wings, and skin entire, is disgorged. 

Weight of glaucous gull, 4 lbs. Stretch of wings, 5 ft. 
3 in. Weight of egg, 4 oz. 

12. Larus argentatus. Herring gull. Not seen north of Etah. 
Most northern breeding-place, Ittibloo, in Whale Sound, 
77° 25' N. 

13. Xema sabini. Sabin's gull. I saw and shot this bird on 
the northern shore of Grant Land on July 8, 1909. Lat. 
82° 30' N. Fairly common at Etah. No nests or eggs 
discovered. Found nesting in Northeast Greenland by 
Danmark Expedition. Eggs, 2. 

14. Sterna paradiscea. Arctic tern. Sea-swallow. Eskimo 
name, E-muck-ko-tail-ya. 

I found this species nesting on the northern shore of 
Grant Land on July 7, 1909. Lat. 82° 33' N. Nest con- 
tained one egg. Very common in vicinity of Etah; flocks 
continually passing north and south. Breeds extensively 
at head of Inglefield Gulf and at North Star Bay. 

15. Fulmarus glacialis glacialis. Fulmar. Molly. Mollimoke. 
Mallemuke. Noddy. John Down. The light and dark 
phases of this bird are both very common at Etah, es- 
pecially in September. Breeds from 69° N. to 76° 35' N. 
Seen frequently at winter quarters of S.S. Roosevelt at 
82° 30' in July, 1909. From a rest upon the water this 
bird spreads its wings and dives wholly beneath the sur- 
face to grasp food. 

16. Nettion carolinense. Green- winged teal. One pair only 
were seen and obtained by us during our four years. That 
this was an uncommon visitor was plainly evident by the 
exclamations of surprise of our Eskimos, most of whom 
had never seen the bird before. 

17. Harelda hyemalis. Old squaw. Long-tailed duck. South 
southerly. Hounds. Old Injun. Eskimo name, Ugley. 



APPENDIX VI 407 

Very common as far north as 82° 30'. Arrives at Etah 
about May 25th. Found nesting near Etah and also by 
me at Mushroom Point on northern shore of Grant Land 
on June 28, 1909. Nest contained five eggs. 

18. Somateria mollissima horealis. Northern eider. Sea-duck- 
Eskimo name, Mee-tik. Very common. Arrives at Etah 
about May 1st. Departs November 1st. Female breed- 
ing-note, Kak-kak-kah-kah — koo-6w; male, Ah-6o — ah-6o 
— koo-koo — koo-6o. Weight, 33^ lbs. Weight of egg, 
33^ oz. Eggs, 5-9. Found as early as June 10th. Eggs 
often found in nest of brant and also in nest of glaucous 
gull. On September 6th the young were beginning to fly. 
Weight, 2.8 lbs. Six thousand eggs are often gathered in 
a few hours from one small island. Eggs vary in length 
from 2.75 in. to 3.25 in.; in breadth from 1.90 to 2.15. 
Breeds on the islands of the Greenland and Ellesmere 
coast as far north as 81° 40', Seen repeatedly at Cape 
Sheridan, 82° 30' N. 

19. Somateria spedabilis. King eider. The king eider arrived 
at Etah with the northern eider and associated with it 
throughout the season. The females of these two species 
so resemble each other that I was never able positively to 
identify the nest and eggs of the king eider. It is found 
wherever the northern eider is found, from the southern 
shores of Greenland to the northern shores of Grant 
Land. 

20. Chen hyperhoreus nivalis. Greater snow-goose. A flock 
of ten arrived at Etah June 10, 1917. After circling around 
the fiord they flew over the hills northward. Often seen 
at Anoritok along shore and at lakes one mile inland. 
Nest not found. 

21. Branta hernicla glaucogastra. Brant. Eskimo name, Nug- 
luq. Arrived at Etah about June 1st. Nests on Little- 
ton, Sutherland, and Eider Duck Islands. Eggs, 4-6. 
Date, June 14th-20th. Young were found hatching at 



408 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

Sutherland Island on July 13, 1916. Brant were molting 
on this date. Nest similar in construction to that of eider 
duck, with the exception of the down, which is a shade 
lighter in color. Were seen flying along northern shores 
of Grant Land in June, 1909. 

22. Phalaropus fulicarius. Red phalarope. Sea-goose. Bank- 
bird. Whale-bird. Common throughout the Smith Sound 
region. Seen as far north as 82° 30'. Found breeding 
at Life Boat Cove. Eggs, 3. Date, June 27, 1916. 

23. Tringa canutus. Knot. The robin snipe. Beach robin. 
Gray-back, Red-breasted sandpiper. Ash-colored sand- 
piper. Eskimo name, Ting-may-tee-a. Very common on 
eastern and western shores of Smith Sound as far north 
as 82° 30', Two nests containing three eggs each found 
by Peary Polar Expedition on July 1, 1909, at Cape Sheri- 
dan. Two nests of three and four eggs found by Crocker 
Land Expedition at North Star Bay in June, 1917. Nest 
a slight depression in soil on rolling ground about one 
mile from the sea. 

24. Arquatella maritima maritima. Purple sandpiper. Rock- 
weed-bird. Rock snipe. Often seen in spring and fall at 
Etah, but apparently did not nest in vicinity. A frequent 
visitor at Cape Sheridan. 

25. Pisobia bairdi. Baird's sandpiper. Found nesting at Life 
Boat Cove, July 1, 1916. Also at Rensselaer Harbor, 
June 28, 1916. Eggs, 3. Young seen around shores at 
Etah on September 2, 1916. 

26. Mgialitis hiaticula. The Ringed plover. This Old-world 
species was very common on hills bordering the sloping 
shores from Life Boat Cove to Cape Hatherton. Nest, a 
slight depression in gravelly soil hned with small pebbles. 
Eggs, 3. Date, June 30, 1916. 

27. Arenaria interpres interpres. Turnstone. Calico-back. 
Chicken plover. Rock-plover. Brant-bird. Checkered 
snipe. Red-legged plover. Very common at Etah from 



APPENDIX VI 409 

June 1st to September 1st. Common at Lady Franklin 
Bay in August, 1901. Was interested in seeing a large 
flock alight upon the water in Kennedy Channel. Seen 
frequently along northern shores of Grant Land in June, 
1909. 

28. Lagopus rupestris reinhardi. Reinhardt's ptarmigan. 
Eskimo name, Ah-kiick-sha. Common at Etah in spring 
and fall migration. Not seen in July and August. Un- 
doubtedly many remain in far North throughout the year. 
Seen on March 19, 1914, when we were crossing the Beit- 
stadt Glacier of Ellesmere Land at a height of 4,700 feet 
with a temperature of — ^50° F. Also seen on March 30, 
1914, in Eureka Sound at 79° 15" N. Recorded by me at 
Ward Hunt Island on most northern coast of Grant Land, 
83° 7' N., on March 21, 1909. Shot at Etah on February 
13, 1916, five days before the return of the sun. These 
birds pick through the crust of snow with their bill, then 
clear away loose snow with their feet, in order to uncover 
willow buds. The breeding-note in April resembles very 
much the sound of a policeman's rattle. Nesting date 
early in June. 

29. Falco islandus. White gyrfalcon. Speckled partridge- 
hawk. Eskimo name, Ka-sh^-we-a-how. Arrives at Etah 
about May 1st. Found nesting on vertical cliffs from a 
height of 30 to 1,000 feet. As far north as Cape Sheridan, 
82° 30". Nesting dates, at Force Bay, May 27, 1915; 
May 31, 1917; Etah, June 7, 1917. Eggs, 4. Young taken 
from nest at Etah on August 16, 1908, August, 1915. 
Young seen flying September 1, 1916. Feeds upon eider 
duck, Mandt's guillemot, ptarmigan, Arctic hare, and 
dovekies. The last are carefully picked, decapitated, 
wings bitten off, and body swallowed. When the meat 
is digested the bones are disgorged. 

30. Nyctea nyctea. Snowy owl. Eskimo name, Ook-pik. 
Rarely seen at Etah. Common at Cape Sheridan on 



410 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 

northern shore of Grant Land during the light period. 
Nest found July 5th, two miles from coast on the summit 
of a projecting mass of rock above a river-bed, contained 
four young, surprisingly unequal in size, and two eggs. 
Remains in the far North throughout the year. Seen at 
Floeberg Beach by Nares Expedition on March 29, 1876. 
Food consists of lemming, ptarmigan, and Arctic hare. 
Necessarily diurnal in habits during the long light period, 
but more active as the sun swings low in the north. Bright 
sunshine affects its sight but little, if any, as shown by the 
fact that the Arctic owl is extremely wary and difficult to 
approach within gun-shot. 

During the dark period its sole food must be the Arctic 
hare, which are very numerous in North Greenland, 
Ellesmere Land, and all lands west. 

An extract from my field journal: 

November 17, 1915. — When driving around Cape Kendrick to- 
night in a regular bUzzard — drifting snow, heavy wind, tempera- 
ture -30° F. — my dogs suddenly leaped ahead, dashed right, then 
left, stopped, and began to fight. To my astonishment, they 
were tearing a hare to pieces. As it is well known that no dog 
could possibly capture an Arctic hare, I was puzzled for a mo- 
ment. It is the opinion of the Eskimos who were with me that 
an owl had captured the hare and was eating it upon the ice as 
we arrived. The mad dash of my dogs from place to place was 
it pursuit of the owl and his six to eight pound burden. 

31. Corvus corax principalis. Northern raven. Eskimo name, 
Tood-a-waq. During the early spring and summer months 
the raven is found as far north as land extends (Lat. 83° 
40'). Winter resident at Etah. Majority migrate south 
about September 15th. Nests about April 6th on cliffs. 
Nest often inaccessible. Young found in nests near Etah 
June 3d and June 15th; seen flying August 25th. Food 
during winter months consists of the excrement of dogs, 
foxes, wolves, and Arctic hare. From May 15th to Sep- 
tember 1st the raven feeds largely upon dovekies, which 



APPENDIX VI 411 

are singled out from the flock, pursued, and captured in 
the air, or driven exhausted to the ground and to the sur- 
face of the fiord ice. The nests of the eider duck also suf- 
fer from the depredations of the raven, which jabs its lower 
bill through an egg and carries it to its nestlings on the 
cliff. Considered good eating by the Smith Sound 
Eskimo. 

52. Acanthis hornemanni hornemanni. Greenland redpoll. 
Rare at Etah. Two flocks of about ten each seen at Sun- 
rise Point on August 1st, 1916. Specimen obtained Sep- 
tember 5th. 

53. Pledrophenax nivalis nivalis. Snow-bunting. Eskimo 
name, Kop-a-noo. Found nesting on northern shores of 
Greenland and Grant Land. Nest of grass, moss, and 
feathers under and in crevices of ground rocks. Eggs, 
4-7. Date, June 19th. This bird arrived at Etah about 
April 15th. Remained until November 1st. One heard 
by me at Nerky on November 12th. The Eskimos declare 
that a few remain all winter. Very musical during the 
breeding-season. 

>4. Saxicola oenanthe leucorhoa. Greenland wheatear. Mi- 
grates in spring to the edge of the Polar Sea. Arrives 
at Etah about May 20th. Nest in construction and loca- 
tion similar to that of snow-bunting. Date, June 15th. 
Eggs, 5. Young found in nest July 3d, 1916. Young seen 
flying on August 5th, 6th, 7th. 

?5. Haliaeetus albicilla. Gray sea-eagle. I record this bird 
among the list because it nests at Cape Sedon in Melville 
Bay, the most southern settlement of the Smith Sound 
Eskimos. 
27 



APPENDIX VII 

STATEMENTS CONCERNING THE POSSIBLE EXISTENCE OF LAND 
IN THE POLAR SEA 

Captain Richardson, in his work, The Polar Regions, 
says: 

The Eskimos of Point Barrow have a tradition, reported by Mr. 
Simpson, surgeon of the Plover (in 1832), of some of their tribe having 
been carried to the north on ice broken up in a southerly gale, and 
arriving, after many nights, at a hilly country inhabited by people 
like themselves, speaking the Eskimo language, and by whom they 
were well received. After a long stay, one spring in which the ice 
remained without movement they returned without mishap to their 
town country and reported their adventures. An obscure indication 
of land to the north was actually perceived from the masthead of 
the Plover when off Point Barrow. 

In 1850, Captain McClure, when off the northern coast 
of Alaska, wrote in his journal that, judging from the char- 
acter of the ice and a "light shady tint" in the sky, there 
must be land to the north of him. 

Marcus Taker, writing in the National Geographic Maga- 
zine, 189 Jf, under the title of "An Undiscovered Island off the 
Northern Coast of Alaska," says: 

It is often told that natives wintering between Harrison and 
Camden Bays have seen land to the north in the bright, clear days 
of spring. In the winter of 1886-87 Uxharen, an enterprising Eski- 
mo of Ootkearie, was very anxious for me to get some captain to 
take him the following summer, with his family, canoe, and outfit. 



APPENDIX VII 413 

to the northeast as far as the ship went, and then he would try to 
find this mysterious land of which he had heard so much; but no 
one cared to bother with tliis venturesome Eskimo explorer. 

The only report of land having been seen in this vicinity 
by civilized men was made by Capt. John Keenan, of Troy, 
New York, in the seventies, at that time in command of the 
whaling-bark Stamboul, of New Bedford. Captain Keenan 
said that after taking several whales the weather became 
thick, and he stood to the north under easy sail and was busily 
engaged in trying out and stowing down the oil taken. When 
the fog cleared off, land was distinctly seen to the north by 
him and all the men of his crew, but as he was not on a voyage 
of discovery, and there were no whales in sight, he was ob- 
liged to give the order to keep away to the south in search 
of them. 

In June, 1904, Dr. R. A. Harris, of the United States Coast 
and Geodetic Survey, published in the National Geographic 
Magazine his reasons for believing that there must be a large 
body of undiscovered land or shallow water in the polar 
regions. He based his theory upon the report that Siberian 
driftwood had been picked up in South Greenland, upon the 
observations of drifting polar ice, upon the drift of the ship 
Jeannette, and upon numerous tidal observations made along 
the northern coast of Alaska and eastward. 



INDEX 

A American Museum of Natural 
History, 193. 

"Aeliees," 47 American Museum Glacier, 299, 
Advance, 25, 111, 114, 165, 176 302. 

Advance Bay, 160. Amund Ringnes, 82. 

Ah-nah-doo, 124. Amund Ringnes Island, 240, 241, 
Ahng-ma-lock-to, 127. 243, 252. 

Ahng-o-do-blah-o, 127, 137. Amundsen, R., 47. 

Ah-now-ka, 144, 153, 155, 156, Andromeda, Bell-flowered, 399. 

157, 160, 175, 211, 274, 275. Angekok (medicine - man), 33, 
Ah-pellah, 21, 50. 217. 

Ah-took-sung-wa, 40. Anoritok, 155, 161, 172, 369. 

Ah-we-gee-a, 149. Anthropometric measurements, 
Aka-ting-wa, 191 35. 

Ak-bat, 126, 315. Arbuthnot, Charles W., 291. 

Ak-kom-mo-ding-wa, 40, 101, 141, Arctic, 26. 

218, 237, 240. Arctic hares, 65, 66, 69, 118, 
Akpan, 393, 394. 237. 

Ak-pood-a-shah-o, 100, 111, 147, Arctic night, 33, 34. 

153, 160, 171, 173, 174, 175, Arkilo, 20, 60, 62, 74, 156, 157, 

210, 232, 240, 283, 313. 158, 160, 162, 191, 242, 247, 

Alert, H.M.S., 27, 289, 298. 250, 283, 313, 336. 

Alexander, Cape, 23, 40, 121, 144, Army Range No. 1, 362. 

185, 186, 189, 199. Arnica, 264, 399. 

Alexandra Fiord, 98. Arthritis deformans, 123. 

Alida Lake, 24, 169, 215, 271. Arthur, Mt., 357, 358 

Allen, Camp, 345. Astronomy, Practical, 35. 

Allen, Jerome Lee, 5, 83, 109, 142, Auks, Little (Alle alle), 116, 169, 

156. 263, 315, 404. 

Al-ning-wa, 191. Axel Heiberg Island, 321, 322. 

American Arctic Explorer, First, Axel Heiberg Land, vi, 68, 88, 

112. 89, 216, 238, 239. 



416 



INDEX 



B 

Bache Peninsula, 229, 341. 
Baffin, William, 314, 315. 
Baird, Camp, 365. 
Baird Inlet, 291. 
Bancroft Bay, 156, 157. 
Barographs recorded, 35. 
Barometic readings, 35. 
Bartlett, Camp, 361. 
Bartlett, Capt. Robert, 306, 313, 

314, 315, 319, 387. 
Bathurst Island, 223. 
Bay Fiord, 59, 61, 322. 
Bayley, Dr. W. S., 353. 
Bayley, Mt., 353. 
Beach robin, 408. 
Bear, 293. 
Bear, Polar, 19, 39, 55, 62, 65, 107, 

153, 155, 156, 158, 159, 160, 

234, 235, 236, 238, 241, 242, 

248, 249, 250, 261, 262, 267, 

268, 299, 300. 
Bearded seal {Erigyiathus harba- 

tus), 48, 145, 155, 157, 160, 161. 
Bearskin pants, 47. 
Beaumont, 298. 
Bedford Pim Island, 52, 293. 
Beebe cache, 170. 
Beitstadt Glacier, 5Q. 
Belcher, Sir Edward, 252. 
Belle Isle, Straits of, 7. 
Beothic, 29. 
Bernier, Captain, 277. 
Biederbick, Mt., 358. 
Birch, Dwarf, 398. 
Birds, 103-107, 160, 162, 167, 

169, 263, 403-411. 
Birdskin shirts, 107. 
Birthdays celebrated, 34. .^ 

Biscuit, 46. 

Bjornesundet, 237, 256. 
Blaamanden, 95. 



Bluebell, Arctic, 397, 399. 

Boger Point, 300, 302. 

Bolton, Mt., 304. 

Bonsall records, 157. 

Booth Inlet, 114. 

Boots, 47, 48, 161, 249. 

Borup, Camp, 361. 

Borup Fjord, 351. 

Borup, George, iv, v,331,332,351. 

Borup Lodge, 38, 42, 46, 110, 142, 

148, 156, 160. 
Bosun-bird, 404. 
Botany, 322. 
Bradley, John R., 29. 
Brainard, Sergt. D. L., 354. 
Brevoort Island, 292. 
British North Pole Expedition 

(1875-76), 170, 179, 288, 298, 

322. 
Brother John's Glacier, 24, 188. 
Brunnich's Murres {Uria lomvia 

lomvia), 109, 126, 315, 403. 
Bryant, H. G., 282, 303. 
Bryder, Doctor, 378. 
Buchanan Bay, 39, 286. 
Bull-bird, 404. 
Burbank, Mr., 313, 315. 
Burgomaster Gull {Larus hyper- 

horeus), 169, 405. 
Butler Island, 165. 
Buttercup, 264, 397. 



Cache Cove, 170. 

Cadogan Inlet, 297, 304. 

Cagni, Captain, 48. 

Cairn Point, 160, 164. 

Caplin {Mallotus villosus), 213. 

Caribou, European (Rangifer 
groenlandicus) , 35, 68, 69, 74, 
109, 117, 118, 188, 216, 217; 
white {Rangifer pearyi), 216. 



INDEX 



417 



Caribou-skin coat, 47. 

Gary Islands, 314. 

Caterpillar, 257. 

Catspaw, Woolly, 399. 

Cemetery Ridge, 293. 

Census, 275. 

Chalon, Cape, 117, 140 209. 

Chandler Fjord, 361. 

Cherie Island, 182. 

Christmas, 41, 211, 276, 875. 

Clams, 272, 277. 

Clarence Head, 279, 282, 295, 

296, 302, 314, 321. 
Clay, Camp, 292. 
Clements Markham Glacier, 122, 

206. 
Cliffs, Stratified, 155. 
Clothing, 47, 48. 
Cluett, George B., 193, 206. 
Coal, 170, 187, 239, 289, 307, 322, 

343. 
Colgate, Cape, 80, 81, 88. 
Columbia, Cape, 289. 
Combermere, Cape, 302. 
Comer, Capt. George, 211, 219, 

268, 270, 271, 307. 
Conger, Fort, 40, 161, 162, 360, 

363. 
Conger Mountains, 358. 
Connell, Mt., 358. 
Consumption, 386, 387. 
Cook, Dr. Frederick A., 29, 71, 

231. 
Cranberry, 399. 
Cress, 399. 
Crocker Land Expedition, iii, v, 

vii, 1, 32, 72, 73, 120, 136, 

207, 321. 
Grossman, Mr., 319. 
Crystal Palace Glacier, 121, 148, 

207. 
Curlew-berry, 399. 
Cuttlefish, 272. 



D 

Daisy, 264. 

Dandelion, 264, 397, 400. 

Danmark, 273, 274, 306, 371. 

Defosse, Cape, 365. 

Depot B established, 39. 

Devil's Thumb, 17. 

Diana, 1, 3, 4, 5, 8. 

Diebitsch Glacier, 208. 

Direction of wind recorded, 35. 

Discovery Bay, 290. 

Discovery, H.M.S., 27, 289. 

Dominion Government Expedi- 
tion, 305. 

Dovekie or little auk {Alle alle), 
104, 106, 107, 164, 400, 404. 

Down, John, 406. 

Ducks, brant {Branta hernicla 
glaucogastra) , 105, 169, 265, 
266, 309, 407, 408; eider {Soma- 
teria mollissima horealis), 104, 
109, 153, 169, 198, 199, 364, 
407; long-tailed {Harelda hye- 
malis), 169, 406. 

Dunsterville, Gape, 290. 

Dynamite, 265. 

E 

Eagle, Sea, 411. 

Ee-meen-ya, 280. 

Eggs, 105, 111, 153, 169, 170, 264, 

Eider Duck Islands, 105. 

Eider, King, 407; Northern, 407. 
265, 309, 322. 

Ekblaw, Gamp, 343. 

Ekblaw, W. Elmer, geologist, 4, 
136, 143, 144, 145, 147, 148, 
156, 161, 219, 268, 270, 279, 
281, 316, 333, 371, 388, 397. 

Ek-kai-a-sha, 134. 

Electric-light plants installed, 
31, 36. 



418 INDEX 

Elison Pass, 292, 295. Fog Inlet, 112. 

Ellef Ringnes Island, 244, 277. Food, 46, 47. 

EUesmere Land, 56, 82, 96, 282, Force Bay, 154. 

295, 321. Fosheim, Camp, 347, 348, 349. 

Erik, of St. John's, 13, 14, 170. Fosheim Peninsula, 66, 345. 

E-say-oo, 144, 149, 335, 370. Foulke Fiord, 23, 24, 188, 200, 
Eskimo, ancestry, 125, 126; birth 201, 282, 321. 

of children, 112, 113; dogs, 43, Fox, 316, 318. 

44, 45, 55, 62, 79, 138, 143, Fox, 35, 65, 238, 263. 

144, 147, 149, 158, 159, 230, Foxskins, 331. 

239,308; dictionary , 275 ; dress, Fox-traps, Stone, 175. 

47; girls, 123; igloos, 123; Fram, 28, 170, 286. 

language, 35, 126, 322; mar- Franklin, Lady, 31G. 

riage, 125, 274, 275; tradi- Franklin, Sir John, 252, 316, 318. 

tions, 126; wives, 205; woman Frederick, 292. 

service, 32. Fresh meat, 31. 

Eskimos, 114. Freuchen, Peter, 116, 120, 123, 
Etah, North Greenland, 21, 22, 124, 126, 127, 128, 129, 137, 

23, 24, 32, 160, 212. 143, 149, 153, 193, 206, 211, 

Ethnology, 35, 322. 212, 268, 323, 325, 327. 

E-took-a-shoo, 19, 67, 74, 78, Fulmar, 406. 

128, 137, 139, 144, 148, 149, Fur-storehouse, 331. 

208, 242, 243, 250, 283, 290, Fur, Use of, 31, 32. 

313, 335, 346, 370. 
Eureka Sound, 66, 143, 161. -^ q 

Exercise, Enforced, 34. 

Exmouth Island, 254. Gabrielsen, Tobias, 375. 

Explorations, 321. Gale Point, 304. 

Gasolene, 50. " 

•p Geology, 322. 

George B. Cluett, 261, 268. 

Faraday, Cape, 282, 296, 300, Georgetown University, 272. 

303. Glaciers, 299, 302. 

Farthest North, 26, 27, 88, 92. GXaMcoxxs GuW-iLarushyperhoreus), 
Feet, Frost-bitten, 53, 279, 289, 103, 160, 164, 263, 303, 304, 

316, 323, 339, 374. 309, 404. 

Fern Rock, 165. Godhavn, 279, 316, 387. 

Ferns, 397, 401. Godhavn natives, 318. 

Finlay Land, 223. Goose, Sea, 408. 

Fire, Preventive against, 36. Grant Land, 82, 143, 298, 349. 

Flagler Bay, 21. Grasses, 400, 401. 

Flagler Pass, 56. Grass, gathering, 195. 

Flowers, 113, 264. Greely Expedition, 161. 



INDEX 



419 



Greely Fiord, 161, 281, 321, 354. 

Greely, Lieutenant, 27, 170, 287, 
292, 293. 

Greely, Maj. A. W., 358. 

Greely, starvation camp, 258. 

Green, Ensign FitzHugh, physi- 
cist, 5, 50, 92, 142, 156, 162, 
204, 205, 206, 207. 

Greenland Ice-cap, 155. 

Greenland, Inspectorate of, 316. 

Grinnell, Second, Expedition, 322. 

Guillemot, Black {Cepphus mand- 
ti), 104, 109, 169, 309, 403. 

Gulls, 160, 164, 169, 265, 309, 
404, 406. 

Gyrfalcon, White {Falco islandus), 
103, 104, 162, 169, 256, 409. 

H 

Hakluyt Isle, 315. 

Hall, Capt. Charles Francis, 26, 

165, 279. 
Hand, James I., 289, 362, 363. 
Hans, Eskimo, 124. 
Hans Island, 365. 
Hanson, Captain, 306. 
Hare, Arctic, 35, 191. 
Harlow, Lieutenant, 293. 
Harris, Dr. R. A., 75, 412. 
Hartstene, Lieut. H. J., 20. 
Hassel, Isachsen and, 223. 
Hatherton, Cape, 100, 117, 338. 
Hawk, Jiddy, 404. 
Hayes Camp, 340. 
Hayes, Dr. Isaac Isreal, 24, 26, 

124, 215, 228, 283. 
Hayes Sound, 98. 
Heather, 397. 
Hendrickson Sound, 241. 
Henson, Cape, 115. 
Herbert Island, 19. 
Herring Gull, 406. 



Herschel, Cape, 287, 292, 295, 

305. 
Holstenborg, 279. 
Homer Land, Louise, 353. 
Homer, Louise, 353. 
Hovey, Dr. E. O., 192, 193, 204, 

206, 211, 212, 217, 219, 261, 

268, 270, 279, 280. 
Hovey, Mt., 347. 
Hozen Lake, 143, 161, 281, 354, 

358, 359. 
Hubbard, Cape Thomas, 72. 
Humboldt Glacier, 111, 153, 154, 

159. 
Hunt, Harrison J., M.D., 4, 33, 

39, 143, 144, 147, 153, 160, 

206, 213, 219, 261, 268, 270, 

331, 379, 380. 
Hvitberget (White Mountain), 71, 

72, 95. 



Icebergs, 7, 15. 

Ice-bird, 404. 

Ice-boat, 101. 

Ice-foot, 37, 51, 154, 208, 209, 

210, 211, 309. 
Ice, Sea, measurement, 35. 
Igloo, 50, 69, 70, 155, 161, 175, 

191. 
Ig-loo-da-hourny, 20, 192. 
Igloosuah, 339. 
Ik-qua, 176. 

In-ah-loo, 196, 218, 277, 278. 
Independence Bay, 204. 
Indians, North American, 126. 
Influenza, 49, 53, 143. 
Inglefield, Cape, 155. 
Inglefield, Capt. E. A., 24, 52. 
Inglefield, Sir Edward, 282. 
In-you-gee-to, 308. 
I-o-pung-wa, 144, 156. 
Ip-swee-shoo, 204. 



420 



INDEX 



Isabella, 24, 282. 

IsabeUa, Cape, 62, 287, 288, 290, 

295, 296, 304, 322. 
Isachsen and Hassel, 223. 
Isachsen, Camp, 345. 
Islands, Discovery of new, 321. 
Ittibloo, 122, 123. 
Ivory Gull, 404. 
Ivory, Walrus, 181. 



Jacob-shoo-na, 101. 

Jaeger, Long-tail, 111, 404. 

James, Cape, 353. 

James, "Prexy" Edmund James, 

353. 
Jesup, Cape Morris, 264. 
Jones Sound, 282. 
Jot, 5, 33, 39, 101, 213, 269, 270 

308, 321. 
Juliana, Fort, 99. 

K 

Kab-loo-na-ding-me, 277, 278, 

283. 
Kah-gun, 221. 
Kah-na, 122, 204. 
Kai-o-ta, 18, 62, 156. 
Ka-ko-tchee-a, 19, 210. 
Ka-mowitz, 50, 51, 153, 283. 
Kane Basin, 295. 
Kane, Dr. Elisha Kent, 25, 155, 

156, 157, 159, 170, 197, 318. 
Kane Expedition, 24, 111, 112, 

160, 164, 165, 166, 322. 
Kane Masonic Lodge, N. Y. City, 

165, 166. 
Kangerd-look-suah, 204. 
Karluk, loss, 117. 
Ka-sah-do, 127. 
Ka-shung-wa, 141. 



Kayak, Eskimo, 34, 183. 

Keatek, 325. 

Kee-et-tee, 146. 

Keenan, Capt. John, 413. 

Kehoe, Captain, 19, 22. 

Keltic Gulf, 298. 

Kendrick, Cape, 175, 202, 208. 

Kennedy Channel, 161, 162, 295. 

Kent, Cape, 158. 

Kikertak (Salvo Island), 127. 

King Christian Island, 32, 143, 

223, 245, 246, 250. 
Kintrup- Jensen, Hans, 381. 
Kislingbury, Lieut. Harry, 294. 
Kitchener, Lord, 276. 
Kittiwake, 405. 
Koch, geologist, 295. 
Knot {Tringa canutus), 264, 265, 

322, 408. 
Knowlton, Dr. G. S., 313. 
Kood-look-to, 40, 42, 389. 
Koo-la-ting-wa, 126, 213, 237, 280. 
Kop-a-noo, 135. 
Kud-la, 143. 



Labrador, 319. 

Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, 

27, 170. 
Lady Franklin Sound, 289. 
Land, new, Existence of, 321. 
Language, Eskimo, 35, 322. 
Law, A. P., 305. 
Leiper, Cape, 155. 
Lemming, 239. 
Lichens, 397. 
Lievely, 317. 

Life Boat Cove, 153, 165. 
Lime-juice, 179. 
Lindow, Inspector, 316, 317, 318, 

387. 
Littleton Island, 25, 105, 115, 

153, 226, 284, 290, 307. 



INDEX 



4^1 



Lockwood, Lieut. J. B., 170, 354, 

358. 
Look, M. J., 41, 136, 206. 
Loon, 493. 

Ludvig, Cape, 240, 250. 
Lynn, 292. 

M 

MacMIUan, Donald B., 323, 333, 

334, 338, 339. 
MeClintock, 318. 
McClure, Captain, 412. 
MeCormick Bay, 321. 
McGary's Rock, 105, 107. 
McLeod, Capt. Angus, 252 
McLeod Head, 252. 
Magnetism, 35. 
Makkovik Station, 319. 
Mallemuke, 406. 
Mandt's Guillemot (Cepphus 

mandti), 104. 
Markham, Commander, 288. 
Markham, Sir Clements, 282. 
Marriage, Eskimo, 274, 275. 
Marshall Bay, 160, 161. 
Marvin, Camp, 361. 
Mee-tak, 134. 

Melville Bay, 15, 16, 17, 129. 
Melville, Cape, 17. 
Meteorite, 40, 42, 338, 389, 394, 

398. 
Meteorological Observations, 31, 

35, 36, 109, 110, 214. 
Meteorology, 35, 322. 
Mirage, 80, 81, 88. 
MoUimoke, 406. 
Molly, 406. 

Morris Jesup, Cape, 264, 295. 
Morse, 181. 

Motion-picture film, 322. 
Mumps, 49, 53. 
Murchison Sound, 19, 20. 



Murres {Uria lomvia lomvia), 126. 
Muscovy Company, 182. 
Mushrooms, 397. 
Musk-oxen, 35, 60, 61, 64, 65, 

67, 68, 69, 107, 156, 160, 234, 

236, 346. 
My-ah, 127. 

N 

Na-hate-e-lah-o, 206, 212. 

Nale-gark-suah, 221. 

Nansen, Fridtjof, 287. 

Nares, Capt. Sir George, 27, 170, 

288, 289, 290, 291, 322. 
Narwhale, 35, 128, 171, 172, 175. 
Neilsen, Herr, 386. 
Neptune, 27, 312, 314, 315, 316, 

319, 387. 
Nerkre, 324, 390. 
Nerky, 21, 40, 114, 149, 187, 188, 

191. 
Nicholas II Land, discovery, 117. 
Night, Arctic, 33, 34, 35, 118, 

119, 269. 
Noddy, 406. 
Noo-ka-ping-wa, 21, 39, 45, 62, 

74, 156, 214, 219, 241, 242, 

248, 249, 250, 256, 336. 
North Cornwall, 240, 250, 252, 

321. 
North Pole reached, 29. 
North Star Bay, 114, 115, 204, 

261, 316, 323. 
Northumberland Island, 139, 140, 

315. 
Nose-bleed, 378. 
Notes in bottles, 162, 163. 

O 

Observatory Island, 165. 
Ohlsen, Cape, 153. 



422 



INDEX 



Ohlsen, Governor, 316, 317. 
Oil, Shark-liver, 385. 
Oil, Whale, 191. 
Okpuddyshao, 336. 
Old Injun, 406. 
Old Squaw, 406. 
Olsen, Cape, 337. 
Olsen, Hendrik, 295, 392. 
Oo-bloo-ya (Star), 21, 100, 111, 

127, 128, 162, 191, 219, 336. 
Oo-loo-set, 315. 
Oo-ming-man, 282. 
Oo-quee-a, 141. 
Oo-tah, 204, 205, 377. 
Ornithology, 36, 322, 403-411. 
Osborn, Henry Fairfield, 353. 
Osborn Mountains, 353. 
Osborn, Sherard, 223. 
Osier, Doctor, 123. 
Owl, 35, 409. 



Paget Glacier, 298. 
Paget Point, 297, 299, 304- 
Pandora, 27, 175. 
Pandora Harbor, 175. 
Panikpa, 19, 21, 40, 141, 237. 
Papers published, 34. 
Parasitic jaeger, 404. 
Parker Snow Bay, 204, 206, 212, 

373. 
"Park-e-to," 125. 
Parry, Cape, 19, 114, 122, 138, 

315. 
Parry Islands, vi, 281. 
Partridge-hawk, 409. 
Partridge, Ice, 404. 
Paul, Charles W., 289, 362, 

363. 
Pauletta, 382, 383. 
Payer Harbor, 51, 55, 99. 
Peabody Bay, 160, 161. 



Peary Channel, 143, 281, 282, 

291, 295. 
Peary, Rear-Admiral, iii, 28, 48, 

52, 72, 74, 75, 80, 81, 87, 99, 123, 

197, 204, 306, 318, 322. 
Peary Rehef Expedition (1892), 

282. 
Pee-a-wah-to, 51, 60, 63, 74, 78, 

79, 91, 92. 
Pee-s^e-a, 241, 244. 
Pemmican, 46, 47. 
Peteravik, 143, 144, 145, 148, 

149, 177. 
Peterman's Fiord, 289. 
Peterson, Cape, 290. 
Peterson, Neils C, 289. 
Phalarope, Red {Phalaropus fuli- 

carius), 264, 408. 
Phoca foelida, 151. 
Photography, 34, 35, 307, 308, 

309, 322. 
"Piblock-to," form of rabies, 147, 

230, 231, 233. 
Pickles, Captain, 193, 212, 261. 
Pictures, Midnight-sun, 299. 
Plants, Vascular, 398. 
Plover, Ring - neck {Mgialites 

hiaticula), 264, 408. 
Polaris Beach, 165. 
Polaris Expedition (1872), 16, 26, 

278, 279. 
Polar Sea, routes to unexplored 

sector, vi. 
Poo-ad-loo-na, 101. 
"Pootenook," 373, 374. 
Poppy, Arctic, 264, 397, 400. 
Porsild, Mr., 316, 317, 387. 
Porter, George, 289. 
Power-boat, 114, 115, 116, 117. 
Pressure ridges, 76. 
Proteus, 27. 
Proven, 379, 386, 387. 
Provision Point, 23. • 



INDEX 



423 



Ptarmigan, Reinhardt's, 104, 118, Roosevelt, S.S., Hi, iv, 29, 40, 44. 



237, 238, 256, 326, 409. 
Puffin {Fratercula arctica nau- 

manni), 315, 403. 
Pym Island, 339. 

Q 

Querini, Lieutenant, 48. 



R 

Rabies, 341 

Race Horse, crushed by ice, 16. 
Raven, 35, 169, 410. 
Ravenscraig, 279. 
Record-breaking latitudes, 26, 27. 
Records, 250, 254, 256, 277, 288, 

289, 290, 293, 303, 305, 322, 

348, 356, 363. 
Red Cliff House, 204. 
Redpoll, Greenland, 411. 
Refuge Harbor, 112. 
Reindeer, 217. 
Relief-ship, 178, 180, 186, 192, 

193, 206, 261, 267, 268, 269, 

270, 271, 273, 277, 278, 279, 

287, 306, 312, 318, 329, 331. 
Remington, Camp, 357. 
Rensselaer Harbor, 114, 155, 156, 

164, 165, 321. 
Retreat Harbor, 176. 
Rhododendron, 397. 
Rice, 287, 292. 
Rice Strait, 52, 286. 
Richardson, Captain, 412. 
Robertson, Cape, 219. 
Robeson Channel, 295. 
Robin snipe, 408. 
Rockweed as food, 221. 
Rockweed-bird, 408. 
Roosevelt, Colonel, in South 

America, 117. 



Rossbach, Sechmann, 325, 327, 

328. 
Rossen, Pastor, 378. 
Rotch, 404. 
Rotchie, 404. 
Rotge, 404. 

Ruggles River, 360, 361. 
Rutherford, Camp, 99. 
Rutherford, Cape, 39, 52. 

S 

Sabine, Cape, 51, 52, 279, 282, 
284, 287, 292, 295, 321, 339. 

Sabin's Gull, 406. 

Salmon, Lake Hazen, 360. 

Salmon trout, 113, 169. 

Salt-horse, 179. 

Salvo Island, 374. 

Sandpiper {Pisohia bairdi), 264, 
408. 

Sargent chart, 35. 

Saumarez, Cape, 219. 

Saunders Island, 167, 302. 

Savikseevik, 394. 

Saxifrage, 264, 399, 400. 

Schei, Camp, 345. 

Schei's Island, 66, 70, 94. 

Schley, Admiral, 28; Cap Lain, 
293. 

Schools, daily lessons, 34. 

Scott, Cape, 155. 

Scurvy, 39, 179, 180, 289, 362. 

Seabury cache, 170. 

Sea-dove, 404. 

Sea-horse, 181, 182, 183. 

Sea ice, cracking, 48, 49; meas- 
urement, 35. 

Sea King, 404. 

Seal, 35, 48, 109, 126, 145, 151, 
155, 157, 160, 161, 192, 230, 
258. 



424 



INDEX 



Seal-hunting in nets, 384. 

Sea-pigeon, 104, 170, 403. 

Seddon, Cape, 17, 129, 378. 

Seismograph, installation, 272 

Seismology, 35. 

Shackle ton. Sir Ernest, plans, 117. 

Shark fishery, 385, 386. 

Shinleaf, 399. 

Shortest day, 41. 

Shrubs, 398, 399. 

Sickness, annual, 150. 

Sipsoo, 141, 308. 

Skins, exported annually, 217. 

Skraelingodden, 66. 

Skua Gull, 404. 

Sledges, 34, 43, 44, 45, 46, 281 

Sleepmg-bag, 48, 71, 232, 239, 

285, 338. 
Small, Camp, 340, 341. 
Small, Jonathan Cook, mechanic, 

5, 33, 39, 101, 213, 269, 270, 

308, 321. 
Smith Sound, 21, 23, 27, 38, 161, 

228, 282. 
Smith Sound native, 35, 161, 172, 

275. 
Snipe, Rock, 408; Robin, 408. 
Snow-beater, 71, 232. 
Snowbirds, 264. 
Snow-blindness 256, 326, 327, 

356. 
Snow-bunting (Plactrophenox ni- 
valis nivalis), 160, 169, 347, 411. 
Snow-goose, Greater, 407. 
Snow house, 50. 
Snow igloos, 141. 
Snow-shoes, 294, 298. 
Sormtag, August, 24. 
Sonntag, Camp, 340. 
Sonntag, death, 124. 
Sonntag Mountain, 202. 
Soundings, 76, 77, 201, 271. 
Southern Cross, lost, 6. 



South Upernavik, 379, 380, 381, 

386. 
Southwest, Cape, 255, 256. 
Sprigg, Judge, 19. 
Stalknecht Island, 293. 
Starr Island, 110. 
Stars, Revolving, 34. 
Starvation Camp, 258, 293. 
Stefansson, Vilhjdlmur, 277. 
Stephenson, Captain, 290. 
Stockings, 47. 
Sulwuddy, 40, 116, 153, 176, 177, 

209. 
Summer, 113, 114, 116. 
Sun, 33, 34, 113, 114, 118, 144, 

169, 269, 282, 345. 
Sunflower, 399. 
Sunrise Point, 51, 105, 149, 162, 

169, 173. 
Surveys, 321. 

Sutherland Islands, 105, 265. 
Svendson Cross, 99. 
Svendson, Doctor, 286. 
Sverdrup, Camp, 341. 
Sverdrup Expedition, 223, 321. 
Sverdrup, Otto, 28, 56, 66, 68, 71, 

88, 99, 231, 286. 
Sverdrup Pass, 342. 
Swallow, Sea, 406. 
Sydney, Cape Breton, 5 280. 
Sydney Harbor, 319. 
Sylvia Headland, 165, 167. 



Table Island, 254. 
Tablet, Memorial, 362. 
Tah-ta-ra, 123. 
Taker, Marcus, 412. 
Talbot Inlet, 300, 303. 
Tanquary Fjord, 353. 
Tanquary, Maurice Cole, zoolo- 
gist, 4, 50, 124, 127, 135, 137, 



INDEX 



425 



143, 147, 149, 156, 161, 167, 

187, 323, 327, 353. 
Tasiuask, 378. 

Tau-ching-wa, 20, 50, 57, 280. 
Taunt, Lieutenant, 293. 
Tea, 46. 

Teal, Green-winged, 406. 
Teaser, 404. 
Teddy - ling - wa, 20, 150, 151, 

221. 
Telephone, 31. 
Temperature records, 35. 
Tennyson Monument, 155. 
Tern, Arctic, 265, 406. 
Thanksgiving Day (1913), 136; 

(1915), 207; (1916), 273. 
Theaters opened, 34. 
Thermographs recorded, 35. 
Thermometer Hill, 144, 271. 
Thermometric readings, 35. 
Thetis, 293. 
"Thewhagon," 47. 
Tidal observations, 35, 322. 
Timothy, Arctic, 400. 
Toes, Frosted, 187. 
Toi-tee-a, 39. 
Took-too-lik-suah, 130, 133, 377, 

378. 
"Torngak, OM," 76, 171, 189, 

225, 240. 
Tracheotomy, 97. 
Trees, 398, 399. 
Tung-we, 150, 151, 152, 221. 
Tupilcs (sealskin tents), 164, 172, 

325. 
Turnavik, 319. 
Turnstone, 408. 

U 

Ulvef jorden, 237. 
Umanak, 19, 115, 116, 123, 184, 
192, 193, 204, 211, 212, 213. 



United States, 26. 

Upernavik, 120, 147, 185, 378, 

379, 386; South, 379, 380, 381, 

386. 

V 

Vaudeville show, 119. 
Veery River, 358, 359. 
Vegetation, 397-402. 
Vent, Cape, 369. 
Victoria Head, 228. 
Victrola Company, 41. 
Vinterberg, Governor, 378. 
Vitamines, 179. 

W 

Walker, Cape, 17. 

Wallace, Mene, 51, 143, 150, 152, 

156, 219. 
Walrus, 19, 20, 35, 55, 107, 108, 

144, 145, 146, 151, 152, 161, 

173, 174, 181, 182, 183, 184, 

189, 190. 
War, World, 276. 
Watches, Day and night, 36. 
Water, Open, 76. 
We-we, 45, 213, 214. 
Weyprecht Islands, 229. 
Whale-bird, 408. 
Whale Fish Island, 319. 
Whale Island, 325. 
Whale Sound, 19. 
Whale, White, 35, 176, 190, 191, 

277. 
Wheat-ear {Saxicola cenanthe leu- 

corhoa), 169, 411. 
Whitney, 231. 
Willow, Arctic, 389. 
Wind, force, 35. 
Wireless, 36, 109, 162. 
Wolf, White, 35, 62, 63, 65, 68, 69, 

90, 91, 95, 97, 243, 272. 
Wolstenholme Sound, 326. 



426 INDEX 

WulflF, Doctor, botanist, 295, 372. Young, Sir Allen, 27, 170, 291, 
Wyviile Thompson Glacier, 296. 322. 



York, Cape, 17, 127, 129, 315, Zoological specimens, 35. 
816, 373. Zoology, 35. 



THE END 



i^^::: 



